


The Wizard, Oz

by InvisibleInscriptions



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Pandora Hearts
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-03 01:20:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10232489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InvisibleInscriptions/pseuds/InvisibleInscriptions
Summary: Many wizards told Oz that Hogwarts was a place to discover yourself. Oz, at the time, didn't know how true those words would be, until years down the road. After uncovering secrets about The Great purge, an event that killed many wizards, and the exact role that the Vessalius family, specifically the hero Jack Vessalius, played in it, Oz is left confused about his identity.Thankfully, Alice and Gilbert are just as confused as Oz is.Over the years, the three try to find and sort lost memories and truths about the wizard world, as well as their roles in the world, while also trying to maintain the front of a typical Hogwarts student.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this about a year ago, multiple chapters, and I'm getting around to posting them now. If the writing seems immature, I believe I wrote this without the intention of ever having other eyes see it. I've lightly edited it, but its more or less untouched.

Oz looked around platform 9 with confused eyes. 

The station was bustling with people. Men and women alike balanced phones on their shoulders, their ears squashed against the phone, and held coffee in one hand and a brief case in the other. 

Calling it a rush would be an understatement. 

The station was as busy as it would be on any day and Oz couldn’t find anything extraordinary about it. Uncle Oscar clapped a hand on Oz’s back with a very fatherly laugh. “You have to walk straight through there” Oscar pointed to the wall ahead, “if you want to get to platform 9 ¾. This is just a normal platform.”

“Walk through the wall?” Oz looked unsure. Oscar nodded at Oz with a bright smile. Deciding that maybe walking through the wall would be okay; Oz took a step forward and passed through the wall. If there is magic in the world, surly invisible walls weren’t too farfetched. 

The feeling was hard to describe. Walking though the wall felt like moving through thick syrup, but with less resistance and with an abnormal chill to it. 

Stepping on the group with a ‘click’ Oz opened his emerald eyes wide as he observed the change in scenery. 

Now the platform looked very different. The folks around him now held owls in cages and were hulling heavy bags. Oz looked at the cage in his own arms. Inside the cage a small dark brown rabbit looked eagerly at the world around him. While owls, cats, and toads were more common pets, Oz couldn’t help but love this rabbit. Oz always loved rabbits and he wasn’t exactly sure why. This little bunny’s name was B-Rabbit; Oscar had gotten it for Oz as a present when he got his letter for Hogwarts. 

Hogwarts, school of magic, was where Oz was headed today, just like any other magical ten-year-old. Just like all the other fist years, Oz was a bundle of excitement and nerves today. Oz had heard much about Hogwarts from his Uncle Oscar and had formulated his own picture about what the magic school looked like.

At Hogwarts, the strangest adventures unfold and friendships are forged! Or at least, that was what Oz understood from the chaotic stories he had heard. 

Oz looked around at his feature schoolmates with their parents; which ones were to become Oz’s friends and which is enemies? The suspense was bothersome, but Oz fund himself embracing it. 

Uncle Oscar patted Oz’s head. “You’re going to do great, Oz, don’t worry.”

A small fluttery feeling filled Oz’s heart. Perhaps this feeling was the embodiment of magic. Although Oz wouldn’t say he was worried, per say, it still felt nice to have someone believe in you. 

“I can’t wait till I am old enough to go to Hogwarts just like you, brother!” Ada Vessalius, Oz’s younger sister, tugged Oz’s jacket. Oz ruffled Ada’s hair. “I’m sure you will make a great witch, but you need to get bigger first!”

Oz scanned the area once more. A child with hair so long that it covered his eyes stood alone next to a boy who Oz recognized. Oz’s heart beat slightly faster as he avoided making eye contact with sky blue eyes.

Elliot Nightray, youngest of the Nightrays. The Nightrays and the Vessalius had been at odds for years, since the Great Purge. Some say the Nightrays were actually allies of the Baskervilles, the bad guys behind the Great Purge. Of course, Oz’s ancestor, Jack Vessalius was the one to stop the Baskervilles, specifically their leader, Glen Baskerville from carrying out the dead of killing all those with great magical power. 

“Do you think Gil will be here?” Ada looked to Oz with her innocent green eyes. 

Oz nodded. “I’m sure he is! He’s a wizard after all!” 

Gilbert was Oz’s servant when he was younger. One day Gilbert had just… appeared in front of the ancient pureblood house of Vessalius. Since then Gilbert had become Oz’s valet. Oz could clearly remember the mischief that Oz, Ada and Gilbert had gotten up to when they were younger. 

Although, Gilbert was very bad at keeping a lid on his magical powers and ended up causing things to float around him when he was nervous. Coincidentally, nervous happened to be Gilbert’s most commonly worn emotion, so items were always floating in his presence. 

Once, Gilbert had been carrying tea for Oz, but got scared at the sight of a cat and ended up flinging the tea at Oscar, who was passing by in the corridors. It was a terrifying moment for Gilbert, but Oz had never seen a funnier look on both his Uncle and Gilbert’s face. Looking back, the time spent with Gilbert were fond memories.

Sadly, there fun was short lived. One day Xai had thrown Gilbert out of the Vessalius house as, apparently, Gilbert’s talented brother, Vincent, was an adopted child of Nightray. The mere correlation of Gilbert having link to the Nightrays, warranted abandonment from Xai. However, Oz remembered that Xai had been especially angered because Gilbert didn’t seem as put together as Vincent was, rendering the Vessalius having got the defective brother. 

Since Gilbert had no memoires of his past life, he was forced to accept this fact and be thrown out of the house and could not bargain to stay. Oz had pleaded with his father, Gilbert was his best friend, but Xai never cared about what Oz had to say and swatted his heir off like a fly; stupid rivalry between the Vessalius and Nightray.

It was a rainy day in the Vessalius manner when Gilbert left. Oz had curled in his room, beside the fireplace, and stared at the empty chair that Gilbert used to sit in while Oz read near the fire. 

It was a cold day. 

Eventually, Oz learned that Gilbert had been taken in by the Nightrays, as per Vincent’s instant request. 

At first, Oz and Gilbert tried keeping touch through owl or meeting up using the floo network, a method of instant travel through the fireplace, but Bernard Nightray, head of the Nightrays, and Xai Vessalius, cut off all attempts at communication. Their faces twisted with disgust at the thought of their being communication between the two houses. 

“I’m sure you will see Gilbert,” Oscar reassured “that boy had more magic than anyone I’ve ever seen, albeit he had the least control over his magic than anyone I’ve ever seen, either. Gilbert was a cute, powerful, chaotic mess.” 

Oz snickered. He had missed Gilbert so much and couldn’t wait to see him. 

“Now, now, little Sharon, you get to come to Hogwarts next year!” Oz heard a sickeningly sweet voice coo. “Reim is a big boy now so he gets to start his schooling this year!” 

Ada looked sympathetically at the girl, Sharon, who pouted at the teasing older man, until her eyes caught onto something far away. “Brother, look at that boy’s eyes!” 

Oz turned his head to look at the boy that caught Ada’s eyes, but when he looked at the direction Ada was pointing too, all he could see was the back of the boy’s head. 

Just then, the train to Hogwarts marched in. 

Oscar gave Oz a hug. “I’m sorry you father couldn’t be here to send you off, he had an important meeting at the Ministry of Magic today,” Oscar spoke soothingly to Oz. It wasn’t as though Oz expected his father to come and Oz preferred his uncle anyways. “I’m sure you will do great in school, Oz. I’ll tell you outright, I’m okay with a bit of mischief that you, without out a doubt, will get into.” 

A lump formed in Oz’s throat. He had avoided thinking about this as much as possible, but now it came tumbling out of Oz’s mouth. “What if I’m not sorted into Gryffindor like all the other Vessalius?” 

At Hogwarts, students were sorted into one of four houses; the four being Gryffindor, Hufflepuf, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house had its heroes and its villains, but some had a more outstanding reputation than others. For examples, Slytherin is well known for its dark wizards and its corrupted members. The Vessalius, descendants of Jack, had a long linage of Gryffindors, the house of bravery. Meanwhile the Baskervilles and Nightrays were well known to be Slytherins, the house of the cunning snakes. 

Oscar shook his head. “I don’t care what house you are in. You’re you, Oz, not some Vessalius mascot.” 

Oz let out a pained smile. “You don’t care but, Father does.” 

“You have to live your life, Oz.” Oscar’s voice sounded much more fatherly to Oz than his actual father’s voice. Oscar would have made a great father; Oz thought it was a shame that his child died along with his wife in childbirth. 

Ada tugged at Oz once again. “The train is going to leave without you!” 

“Right, thanks Ada.” 

Oscar gave Oz one last hug before Oz waved them goodbye and lugged his luggage into the train. Most compartments were full of students, but Oz managed to find an open one with ease. Well open for the most part, there was a single student already seated, looking out the window in a daze. 

The student was small, smaller than Oz. His hair was as black as night and resembled that of, for lack of a more poetic comparison, seaweed. 

A warm feeling flowed through Oz. He had grown since Oz had last seen him and his clothes, a white shirt and black blazer, were fancier than before, but Oz would have recognized him anywhere. Putting his luggage in the compartments above and holding B-Rabbit in his arms, Oz asked in a casual tone, “Are these seats taken?”

The boy turned his head around to face Oz, his amber eyes growing wide upon recognition. “Y-young master!” 

Oz laughed, seating himself next to the boy. “It’s been awhile Gilbert! I told you to call me Oz, plus we’re at school.” 

Gilbert’s face turned slightly red. “I-I’m not your servant anymore either,” the adopted Nightray looked away from Oz, “I betrayed the Vessalius house and dishonored their name. Please sit somewhere else.” Gilbert could be stubborn, Oz internally smiled at the familiar mannerisms. 

“You didn’t betray the house.” 

“Your father let me go not only because of my brother who is an adopted child of Nightray… it was also because compared to my brother your father thought I was a joke, right? People at the Ministry laughed at your father when they heard about me compared to Vincent, and they laughed more when they heard I joined Nightray. I-I could have not joined the Nightrays, you know? I could have left the Vessalius and found life somewhere far away, alone, but I-”Gilbert’s tone spoke nothing but pure shame. 

Oz shook his head. “Gil, I don’t share my father’s opinion of you. I don’t blame you for joining the Nightray family. The Nightray said they knew methods to control your erratic power, did they not? You wouldn’t have survived anywhere else. You never betrayed me. I missed you.” 

At this point Gilbert looked close to tears. “How can you say all this? The Nightrays oversee Azkaban, the prison, and executions. I’ve seen so many- “ 

As this point Oz clapped a hand over Gilbert’s mouth, holding B-Rabbit in his other hand. “That’s enough, Gil. I don’t care what you’ve seen, you are still you. I don’t care that you’re a Nightray. You’re Gilbert and that’s all that matters. I’ve missed you, a lot.” 

Oz’s words caused Gilbert to grow silent and hang his head low, causing strands of his air to fall into his face. After staring at the ground for a few moments, Gilbert slowly raised his head to face Oz, “If it’s not too much trouble could I-“ 

Gilbert’s words were cut off by a bold female voice. “Hey, these seats aren’t taken, right?” 

The girl had long chestnut hair that reached down to her back and two small braids mixed into her long hair. At the top of her head two chunks of hair, shorter than the rest, flicked out, looking a bit like ears, Oz thought. Her purple eyes sparkled, radiantly, and Oz thought she looked like the child of the sun. The girl had already changed into her black robes, the Hogwarts’s uniform. 

Gilbert looked to Oz for an answer to give the girl. Flashing the girl a charming smile, Oz answered, “You can sit here.” 

Smiling as though she had just won something, the girl seated herself across from Gilbert and crossed her legs, one over the other. Without another word, she looked outside the train. As though responding to her command, the train began to move. 

Oz and Gilbert stared at the girl blankly for a few moments before the girl sighed and turned to face them, as though they were an issue she realized she had to deal with. “So… who exactly are you two?”

Gilbert looked at the girl disbelievingly and Oz laughed. 

“I’m Oz Vessalius,” Oz gestured to himself, “and this is Gilbert,” Oz paused for a moment before adding, “Nightray. This is Gilbert Nightray. You are?”

“Alice. Just Alice.” 

Oz cocked his head confusedly. “Just Alice?” 

Alice glared at Oz sharply. “Yes, just Alice. Is it a problem?” 

Raising his hands in defense, Oz shook his head. “No, it’s fine. For a while Gilbert was just Gilbert too.” 

Alice, who had been ignoring Gilbert till now looked at him dead in the eye. Oz felt Gilbert straighten up at her gaze. “Why are you no longer just Gilbert and why were you just Gilbert before?” 

Trying to show confidence, aided by whatever training the Nightrays fed him, Gilbert maintained eye contact with Alice. “I don’t have any memories of where I’m from. I was just Gilbert because of that. Eventually, Nightray adopted me, so now I’m Gilbert Nightray now.” 

Resting her head on her hands, Alice studied Gilbert closely. 

“C-can I help you?” Gilbert responded, squeaking in a fierce way. 

“I don’t have any either,” Alice bluntly stated, looking distant. 

“Excuse me?” Gilbert blinked confusedly. 

“I don’t have any memories of where I’m from either,” Alice clarified 

Gilbert was taken aback at this information, but Oz’s curiosity was peaked. 

“What’s the latest you remember?” Oz inquired, genuinely curious at her behavior. 

Alice turned to stare out the window again, the scenery was moving by faster now. “Latest I remember is a week ago. Wow, this thing sure moves fast. What is this thing exactly?” 

“It’s a train. Last you remember is a week ago? Where were you a week ago?” Oz pressed on, interest growing like a fed fire.. 

“I woke up in an alley in this place call Diagon alley with this guy next to me,” Alice pointed to under her seat. 

Oz looked under her seat and found a cage. “This guy?” 

Just then a sound came from the cage and it clearly wasn’t the sound of an owl. 

Gilbert let out a magnificent shriek, leaping from his seat into the aisle as though he were running from a grotesque monster . 

Alice raised an eyebrow at Gilbert and brought her cage into her lap. A small black cat with golden eyes, much like Gilbert’s though Oz doubt Gilbert would want to hear the comparasion, and a small bell tied around its neck was in the cage. “His name is Cheshire, I just know it. What’s seaweeds problem?” 

Alice opened the cage and brought the cat to her lap. “The cat has a weird meow and doesn’t make much sound, but other than that it’s just a cat.” 

Oz’s eyes gleamed with certain deviousness. “Gil hates cats. He’s afraid of them.” 

Cheshire took a step onto the empty seat beside Alice and closer to Gilbert. Gilbert moved down the aisle with a squeak. “I am not a seaweed, y-you you” Gilbert’s gaze went to Oz’s arms, “… rabbit!” 

Alice stood up now. “Rabbit? How am I rabbit?” 

“Your hair looks like rabbit ears!” Gilbert crossed his arms defensively and avoided looking at the offended B-rabbit.

Alice picked up Cheshire and brought it closer to Gilbert with a devilish look in her orchard eyes. “My hair looks like rabbit ears, does it now?” 

Gilbert made another yelp and backed into the doors of the compartment. Other students turned to look the show. 

Oz got up to get closer to them, but the moment he stood something below Gilbert’s seat bit him. “Ow!” Oz jumped back at the pain that shot through his ankles. Peering below Gilbert’s seat, Oz found a cage. Picking the cage up, Oz noticed a bird inside it. At the sudden movement, the bird began to squawk, causing Alice to turn to the bird. 

“Is that yours?” Alice looked to Gilbert who was pale as a ghost and still backed up against the doors. 

“Yes! Its name is Raven, it’s a raven bird. Now please get that MONSTER away from me!” 

Suddenly, the doors open, causing Gilbert to fall back. A man with a noble face and beige hair shouted in a loud boom, “FIRST YEARS KEEP IT DOWN!” Then he looked down at his feet, at Gilbert. A look of disgust crinkled over his features. “Of course it’s you making a fuss,” the man whispered under this breath, Oz barley caught it. A sparkling badge on his black robes told Oz that he was a prefect and the green and silver tie told Oz that this man was a Slytherin. 

Alice put Cheshire down, pretending to be tired to teasing Gilbert, and Gilbert sighed in relief. The prefect looked over the room once again before he kicked Gilbert lightly and whispered something to him that Oz couldn’t hear. Gilbert’s face fell and then turned cold.

Something inside Oz roared as he watched the scene unfold. “Don’t do that!” 

The prefect turned to Oz. “You don’t have the right to talk to me like that.” 

Oz smiled sweetly, but there was venom dripping from his words. “You don’t have the right to treat a student like that.” 

The prefect smirked. “Vessalius boy, I can treat my siblings however I want.” 

The prefect exited and closed the door behind him, leaving Oz slightly dumbfounded. Alice looked to Gilbert in confusion. “Sibling?” Alice put Cheshire in his cage when she reached her seat. “You mean he’s your brother? So much for family resemblance, huh?” 

Gilbert got up from the floor and walked back to his seat with a bitter look on his face. “He’s my older brother. The other Nightray children don’t like my brother and I because we’re adopted. Oz, you shouldn’t have done that. The tension between you and the four other Nightray students is already tense enough. That one was Fred Nightray, heir of Nightray. It’s his last year here.” 

“They are just jealous because you have so much magic power but you’re not connected to any noble bloodline that we know of,” Oz brushed them off. “You named your raven bird Raven? That’s so like you.” Oz changed topics before the conversation grew sour and Gilbert began to self-deprecate. 

Gilbert blushed but tried to push it down. “You have a rabbit?” 

“B-Rabbit.” 

“How is naming your black rabbit B-rabbit so much better than naming a raven, Raven?” Gilbert mumbled. 

“Seaweeds got a point.” Alice crosses her arms and nodded curtly. 

“I am not a seaweed, you rabbit!” Gilbert fusses, balling his hand into a first.

Alice flicks her hair, unaffected by Gilbert’s threatening glare. “Your hair is a pile of raven coloured seaweed.”

Oz watched the two bicker with a wide grin and had a feeling that school was going to be very fun.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, when I wrote this I clearly didn't know what verb tenses were. Or maybe I just had a very bad sense of them? Whatever, I tried to change the VT but I probably missed a few so... yeah

“Hey what house do you think you will be sorted into?” Oz breaks up Alice and Gilbert’s bickering with this question. 

Alice looks to Oz as though he had grown an extra limb. “House?” The girl blinked, much like a confused rabbit. 

Understanding that Alice wouldn’t know that much about Hogwarts, considering her the extent of her memories spanned only a week back, Oz explains. “In Hogwarts you are sorted into houses based on your personality or where they think it’s best for you. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin are the options.” 

“Okay,” Alice nods, comprehending what is being told, “what are the traits for each?" 

“Gryffindor is for the brave and often bold. Everyone in my family has been a Gryffindor. Gryffindors are daring, chivalrous, and determined,” explains Oz as though he is reciting from a textbook. 

“What about Hufflepuff?” 

“Hufflepuffs are fair and loyal to a fault. They are often patient and hardworking. People that like to help others, you know? They are also friendly and honest and not that focused on glory for themselves compared to Gryffindors.” 

“Ravenclaw?” Alice lists off.

“Ravenclaws put wisdom and knowledge on a pedestal and seek it more than anything. They want to learn knowledge for the sake of knowledge. My Uncle Oscar tells me that Ravenclaws can be interested in several things. Basically, they don’t have to be just book smart, but quite a few are.” 

“Hmmm,” Alice pauses, trying to remember the last house that Oz had named. “What about Slytherin.” 

Oz’s expression grows slightly grim as he answers. “Slytherins are cunning folks. They are ambitious and crafty. Slytherins are very loyal the people truly close to them, and they yearn for praise just like Gryffindors, but they are not as chivalrous and they think more before they act. Slytherins are clever, resourceful, determined and have ‘a certain disregard for the rules.’ Fred Nightray, the man that Gilbert bumped into is a Slytherin, I could tell from the green and sliver on his tie.” 

“What house do you think you’ll be put into?” Gilbert inquires, genuinely curious.

Alice answers instantly and points to herself with bold certainty. “I’m a Gryffindor, no doubt. They sound cool.” 

Oz is taken aback by Alice’s certainty and feels almost… envious of her sureness. “I’m not sure what house I’ll be in,” admits Oz. “My whole family has been in Gryffindor and I suppose it fits me but…” 

“…but?” Alice motions with her hands for Oz to continue. 

“I know I’m not a Hufflepuff, they aren’t really my style? I like to learn, but it’s not my end goal. As for Slytherin…” Oz’s heart sank a bit as he admitted it to himself, “I have quite a few Slytherin qualities.” 

Alice shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t see what the big deal is. It seems like some Slytherins are really bad, if that Nightray guy is anything to go by, but they can’t all be bad. If they were, they would just get rid of the house, right?” The simplicity of Alice’s words rung true in Oz’s mind. 

Sighing like a load had been lifted from Oz’s chest. He responded, “Not all of them are bad no…” Like a persistent vulture, the load started to float back onto Oz’s shoulders and he felt himself recoiling. Life wasn’t as simple as Alice’s words. 

“And who cares about what your family was!” Alice announced in matter of fact tone reading the train of Oz’s thoughts, “you are you, Oz, isn’t that obvious.” 

Oscar had told Oz something similar, but Oz felt better hearing it from a member outside of his family say it so bluntly.

“It’s not that easy…” Gilbert countered, sounding bitter and his fists began to tremble. 

Oz raised his eyebrows at Gilbert’s tone. “You want me to be in Gryffindor?” 

Gilbert shook his head quickly. “No, I don’t care where you are! You aren’t evil, I know that, even if you do have a few Slytherin traits… you also have Gryffindor traits too, though. I don’t care about the house but… well... It’s just that your father…” 

Forest green eyes darted to outside the train. Oz was well aware of what Gilbert was alluding to and, with it, the truth of Oz’s world began to seep into the cracks of his mind. “Yeah…” Oz closed his eyes, thinking of his father’s disdainful glare. 

“I don’t get what the big deal is,” Alice narrowed her eyes, “who cares about your father.” 

Oz’s heart hurt at her words.

There was truth to it. 

Oz shouldn’t care about what his father thinks, but that didn’t stop Oz from caring. In truth, he cared a lot. 

The harsh words of Oz’s father were as loud as a siren in his brain. Words of Oz’s uselessness, filthiness, and worthlessness played in his mind like a broken record. Xai Vessalius had scoffed with certainty that Oz was destined to be the family disgrace and land in Slytherin. The scratchy parroting of his father’s deep voice drowned out the soothing words of Alice, Gilbert, Oscar, and anyone who told Oz otherwise. 

More than anything, Oz wanted to prove to his father, prove to himself, that he was worth more than what he was being told. 

“You don’t understand!” Gilbert snapped at Alice, his eyes sharp and cold. “Oz’s can’t just ‘not care about his father.’” 

Crossing her legs Alice glared at Gilbert defensively. “What is the big deal? Explain it to me if I don’t understand!” 

“Never mind Gilbert, it’s fine,” Oz lied, an innate skill of his, and tried to diffuse the tension. “Just forget about it. I don’t want to think about it.” Putting on a porcelain smile, Oz cocked his head to the side. “What house do you think you will end up in, Gilbert?” 

Retreating, Gilbert calmed down. “My family is the opposite of yours. The Nightrays are all in Slytherin and that’s where I’m supposed to go too. My family already hates me already so, I really need to end up in Slytherin, but…”

Chuckling, Oz put a hand on Gilbert’s shoulder. Gilbert hung his head low. If Oz squinted, he was certain he would see gloomy mushrooms growing from Gilbert’s head. “Gil, you are the least Slytherin person on the face of the Earth. Well, maybe Ada could give you a run for your money, but you are definitely a contender.” 

“Ada?” Alice piped up at the unfamiliar name. 

“My younger sister,” Oz supplied. 

Putting his head in his hands, Gilbert mourned his impending doom. “Do you think if I ask to be put in Slytherin, they’ll let me?” 

Oz rolled his eyes. “Ask nicely and maybe they’ll listen? Gee, Gill, you couldn’t sound more like a Slytherin if you tried.” A fond smile crept onto Oz’s face. 

Gilbert continued to sulk, sinking lower into his seat.

“How do you think the sorting is done?” Alice questioned, ignoring Gilbert who looked as though his soul was escaping from the confines of his body. 

Oz shrugged. “My Uncle Oscar wouldn’t tell me.” 

“My brothers told me that they make you fight a dragon and see how you kill it.” Gilbert mopes gloomily. “I don’t want to fight a dragon. It’s cruel that they drag dragons into this.” 

Moving B-Rabbit from his hands to his lap Oz replies sarcastically. “Yeah, sure. I’m sure the school would let in a huge dragon, that requires years of training to fight, and hope that a bunch of fresh off the boat wizards would be able to win in a duel with it!”

At that moment, a trolley pulls up and a witch asks, “Would you like to purchase something?” 

Oz nods, reaching into his pocket for some Galleons, wizard money, to pay. In return Oz was given an assortment of wizard sweets. “I got enough for all of us,” informed Oz, much to Gilbert’s protest. 

The pile of sweets was thrown to the empty seat. “Take what you want. Gil, open your mouth.”

Alice examined a package of chocolate frogs with interest, while Oz opened a bag of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans and throws a random bean into Gilbert’s mouth. 

“What are those?” Alice looked at the beans. “What are these?” Alice pointed to the chocolate frogs.

“These are Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. The beans come in every flavor imaginable. EVERY flavor. It’s a risk with every bite! You can’t tell which bean is what flavor.” 

Alice and Oz looked to Gilbert as Gilbert chewed slowly. Slowly Gilbert’s face turned white and he began to cough. “It’s brick flavored. I don’t even know what bricks taste like!” Gilbert hacked out between coughs. 

“Gil~” Oz cooed. Gilbert’s attention snapped to Oz who held up Cheshire right to Gilbert’s face. Gilbert’s face grew a shade whiter as he let out a very high-pitched scream of terror while still coughing on the dry flavor of the brick bean. 

The door to the compartment over opened once again, but this time a boy, no older than Oz stepped through. Oz recognized him. 

“Be quiet!” he commanded. “Wait, Gilbert?” The man’s sky blue eyes widened at the coughing male who clutched his back like a lifeline. 

Gilbert had jumped over his seat, in fear, when Oz pressed the cat closer to him and ran to hide behind the man who entered, screaming like an infant. “E-elliot?” Gilbert stuttered, shrinking further as he realized who he had hid behind. 

Elliot put a protective hand out, shielding Gilbert from Oz. “How dare you threaten my brother? You’re a Vessalius, aren’t you?” Elliot put his foot down and glared at Gilbert. “Gilbert stop screaming already!”

“My experience, having lived a good three months with the Nightrays, has taught me that,” another voice joins the fray calmly, “Gilbert isn’t going to stop screaming till the cat is put away.” 

Gilbert clutched Elliot’s back harder and Elliot yelled exasperatedly. “Ugh, cats, really?! HAVE YOU NO SHAME?” 

“It’s a CAT!” Gilbert protested in a tiny voice. 

The owner of the logical voice from earlier makes himself visible. The long bangs that curtain over his face stood out in Oz’s memory and Oz recalled seeing him at the station. The man clapped his hands like a daycare teacher trying to get the attention of their students. “Okay that’s enough of this.” 

Moving passed Elliot; the man walks up to Oz and extends his hand. “I’m Leo and that’s Elliot Nightray. We’re also first years.” 

“I’m Oz Vessalius.” Oz shakes Leo’s hand, glad that the man seems to be friendly. 

“Okay now that’s out of the way,” Leo picks up Cheshire from Oz’s hands and gives it to Alice who holds her hands out for her cat., “we’re going to reach school soon, so you guys should change. I need to change too.” 

With the aura of a parent that had taken care of whiney babies, Leo walks out, dragging Elliot, who was clearly pouting, with him.

Oz blinks at the anticlimactic departure. Gilbert sat stiffly before falling recumbent, still frozen. Then, a sweet sound filled the air. Oz turns to see Alice laughing. Her face was relaxed and content as she laughed like the ringing of bells. 

Oz began to laugh as well and Gilbert can’t help but to join it. It was going to be an interesting time at Hogwarts indeed.


	3. Chapter 3

“Hey what house do you think you will be sorted into?” Oz breaks up Alice and Gilbert’s bickering with this question. 

Alice looks to Oz as though he had grown an extra limb. “House?” The girl blinked, much like a confused rabbit. 

Understanding that Alice wouldn’t know that much about Hogwarts, considering her the extent of her memories spanned only a week back, Oz explains. “In Hogwarts you are sorted into houses based on your personality or where they think it’s best for you. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin are the options.” 

“Okay,” Alice nods, comprehending what is being told, “what are the traits for each.” 

“Gryffindor is for the brave and often bold. Everyone in my family has been a Gryffindor. Gryffindors are daring, chivalrous, and determined,” explains Oz as though he is reciting from a textbook. 

“What about Hufflepuff?” 

“Hufflepuffs are fair and loyal to a fault. They are often patient and hardworking. People that like to help others, you know? They are also friendly and honest and not that focused on glory for themselves compared to Gryffindors.” 

“Ravenclaw?” Alice lists off.

“Ravenclaws put wisdom and knowledge on a pedestaled and seek it more than anything. They want to learn knowledge for the sake of knowledge. My Uncle Oscar tells me that Ravenclaws can be interested in several things. Basically, they don’t have to be just book smart, but quite a few are.” 

“Hmmm,” Alice pauses, trying to remember the last house that Oz had named. “What about Slytherin.” 

Oz’s expression grows slightly grim as he answers. “Slytherins are cunning folks. They are ambitious and crafty. Slytherins are very loyal the people truly close to them, and they yearn for praise just like Gryffindors, but they are not as chivalrous and they think more before they act. Slytherins are clever, resourceful, determined and have ‘a certain disregard for the rules.’ Fred Nightray, the man that Gilbert bumped into is a Slytherin, I could tell from the green and sliver on his tie.” 

“What house do you think you’ll be put into?” Gilbert inquires, genuinely curious.

Alice answers instantly and points to herself with bold certainty. “I’m a Gryffindor, no doubt. They sound cool.” 

Oz is taken aback by Alice’s certainty and feels almost… envious of her sureness. “I’m not sure what house I’ll be in,” admits Oz. “My whole family has been in Gryffindor and I suppose it fits me but…” 

“…but?” Alice motions with her hands for Oz to continue. 

“I know I’m not a Hufflepuff, they aren’t really my style? I like to learn, but it’s not my end goal. As for Slytherin…” Oz’s heart sank a bit as he admitted it to himself, “I have quite a few Slytherin qualities.” 

Alice shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t see what the big deal is. It seems like some Slytherins are really bad, if that Nightray guy is anything to go by, but they can’t all be bad. If they were, they would just get rid of the house, right?” The simplicity of Alice’s words rung true in Oz’s mind. 

Sighing like a load had been lifted from Oz’s chest. He responded, “Not all of them are bad no…” Like a persistent vulture, the load started to float back onto Oz’s shoulders and he felt himself recoiling. Life wasn’t as simple as Alice’s words. 

“And who cares about what your family was!” Alice announced in matter of fact tone reading the train of Oz’s thoughts, “you are you, Oz, isn’t that obvious.” 

Oscar had told Oz something similar, but Oz felt better hearing it from a member outside of his family say it so bluntly.

“It’s not that easy…” Gilbert countered, sounding bitter and his fists began to tremble. 

Oz raised his eyebrows at Gilbert’s tone. “You want me to be in Gryffindor?” 

Gilbert shook his head quickly. “No, I don’t care where you are! You aren’t evil, I know that, even if you do have a few Slytherin traits… you also have Gryffindor traits too, though. I don’t care about the house but… well... It’s just that your father…” 

Forest green eyes darted to outside the train. Oz was well aware of what Gilbert was alluding to and, with it, the truth of Oz’s world began to seep into the cracks of his mind. “Yeah…” Oz closed his eyes, thinking of his father’s disdainful glare. 

“I don’t get what the big deal is,” Alice narrowed her eyes, “who cares about your father.” 

Oz’s heart hurt at her words.

There was truth to it. 

Oz shouldn’t care about what his father thinks, but that didn’t stop Oz from caring. In truth, he cared a lot. 

The harsh words of Oz’s father were as loud as a siren in his brain. Words of Oz’s uselessness, filthiness, and worthlessness played in his mind like a broken record. Xai Vessalius had scoffed with certainty that Oz was destined to be the family disgrace and land in Slytherin. The scratchy parroting of his father’s deep voice drowned out the soothing words of Alice, Gilbert, Oscar, and anyone who told Oz otherwise. 

More than anything, Oz wanted to prove to his father, prove to himself, that he was worth more than what he was being told. 

“You don’t understand!” Gilbert snapped at Alice, his eyes sharp and cold. “Oz’s can’t just ‘not care about his father.’” 

Crossing her legs Alice glared at Gilbert defensively. “What is the big deal? Explain it to me if I don’t understand!” 

“Never mind Gilbert, it’s fine,” Oz lied, an innate skill of his, and tried to diffuse the tension. “Just forget about it. I don’t want to think about it.” Putting on a porcelain smile, Oz cocked his head to the side. “What house do you think you will end up in, Gilbert?” 

Retreating, Gilbert calmed down. “My family is the opposite of yours. The Nightrays are all in Slytherin and that’s where I’m supposed to go too. My family already hates me already so, I really need to end up in Slytherin, but…”

Chuckling, Oz put a hand on Gilbert’s shoulder. Gilbert hung his head low. If Oz squinted, he was certain he would see gloomy mushrooms growing from Gilbert’s head. “Gil, you are the least Slytherin person on the face of the Earth. Well, maybe Ada could give you a run for your money, but you are definitely a contender.” 

“Ada?” Alice piped up at the unfamiliar name. 

“My younger sister,” Oz supplied. 

Putting his head in his hands, Gilbert mourned his impending doom. “Do you think if I ask to be put in Slytherin, they’ll let me?” 

Oz rolled his eyes. “Ask nicely and maybe they’ll listen? Gee, Gill, you couldn’t sound more like a Slytherin if you tried.” A fond smile crept onto Oz’s face. 

Gilbert continued to sulk, sinking lower into his seat.

“How do you think the sorting is done?” Alice questioned, ignoring Gilbert who looked as though his soul was escaping from the confines of his body. 

Oz shrugged. “My Uncle Oscar wouldn’t tell me.” 

“My brothers told me that they make you fight a dragon and see how you kill it.” Gilbert mopes gloomily. “I don’t want to fight a dragon. It’s cruel that they drag dragons into this.” 

Moving B-Rabbit from his hands to his lap Oz replies sarcastically. “Yeah, sure. I’m sure the school would let in a huge dragon, that requires years of training to fight, and hope that a bunch of fresh off the boat wizards would be able to win in a duel with it!”

At that moment, a trolley pulls up and a witch asks, “Would you like to purchase something?” 

Oz nods, reaching into his pocket for some Galleons, wizard money, to pay. In return Oz was given an assortment of wizard sweets. “I got enough for all of us,” informed Oz, much to Gilbert’s protest. 

The pile of sweets was thrown to the empty seat. “Take what you want. Gil, open your mouth.”

Alice examined a package of chocolate frogs with interest, while Oz opened a bag of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans and throws a random bean into Gilbert’s mouth. 

“What are those?” Alice looked at the beans. “What are these?” Alice pointed to the chocolate frogs.

“These are Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. The beans come in every flavor imaginable. EVERY flavor. It’s a risk with every bite! You can’t tell which bean is what flavor.” 

Alice and Oz looked to Gilbert as Gilbert chewed slowly. Slowly Gilbert’s face turned white and he began to cough. “It’s brick flavored. I don’t even know what bricks taste like!” Gilbert hacked out between coughs. 

“Gil~” Oz cooed. Gilbert’s attention snapped to Oz who held up Cheshire right to Gilbert’s face. Gilbert’s face grew a shade whiter as he let out a very high-pitched scream of terror while still coughing on the dry flavor of the brick bean. 

The door to the compartment over opened once again, but this time a boy, no older than Oz stepped through. Oz recognized him. 

“Be quiet!” he commanded. “Wait, Gilbert?” The man’s sky blue eyes widened at the coughing male who clutched his back like a lifeline. 

Gilbert had jumped over his seat, in fear, when Oz pressed the cat closer to him and ran to hide behind the man who entered, screaming like an infant. “E-elliot?” Gilbert stuttered, shrinking further as he realized who he had hid behind. 

Elliot put a protective hand out, shielding Gilbert from Oz. “How dare you threaten my brother? You’re a Vessalius, aren’t you?” Elliot put his foot down and glared at Gilbert. “Gilbert stop screaming already!”

“My experience, having lived a good three months with the Nightrays, has taught me that,” another voice joins the fray calmly, “Gilbert isn’t going to stop screaming till the cat is put away.” 

Gilbert clutched Elliot’s back harder and Elliot yelled exasperatedly. “Ugh, cats, really?! HAVE YOU NO SHAME?” 

“It’s a CAT!” Gilbert protested in a tiny voice. 

The owner of the logical voice from earlier makes himself visible. The long bangs that curtain over his face stood out in Oz’s memory and Oz recalled seeing him at the station. The man clapped his hands like a daycare teacher trying to get the attention of their students. “Okay that’s enough of this.” 

Moving passed Elliot; the man walks up to Oz and extends his hand. “I’m Leo and that’s Elliot Nightray. We’re also first years.” 

“I’m Oz Vessalius.” Oz shakes Leo’s hand, glad that the man seems to be friendly. 

“Okay now that’s out of the way,” Leo picks up Cheshire from Oz’s hands and gives it to Alice who holds her hands out for her cat., “we’re going to reach school soon, so you guys should change. I need to change too.” 

With the aura of a parent that had taken care of whiney babies, Leo walks out, dragging Elliot, who was clearly pouting, with him.

Oz blinks at the anticlimactic departure. Gilbert sat stiffly before falling recumbent, still frozen. Then, a sweet sound filled the air. Oz turns to see Alice laughing. Her face was relaxed and content as she laughed like the ringing of bells. 

Oz began to laugh as well and Gilbert can’t help but to join it. It was going to be an interesting time at Hogwarts indeed. 

Chapter 3

“Hello first year, over here please,” a kind, elderly, witch called out repeatedly. Oz, Alice, and Gilbert, who were now changed into black wizard robes, followed her along with a group of other first years. Ahead of them, Oz waved to Elliot and Leo, Leo waved back, but Elliot looked away from Oz with a scoff. 

“What’s Elliot’s problem with me?” Oz sighed. Making friends may be slightly harder than he had hoped. 

Gilbert scratched his head. “Well, you are a Vessalius and he is a Nightray. Actually, I think Elliot’s mad at me for standing with you right now. He’s a good boy, younger than me by a few months. Elliot is not like his siblings, at least not to me.” Gilbert smiled to himself, but Oz didn’t understand exactly what Gilbert meant, although he had a vague idea. 

The elderly witch guided the first years onto boats which sailed forward, smoothly, as though they were gliding on ice. Oz put a leg up on his boat. “Look, Gil, Alice, I am a sailor!” 

Alice put her leg up as well and puffed her chest out. “I am the captain of this ship!” she declared fiercely. 

“What am I?” Gilbert muttered to himself. 

Alice’s sharp ears twitched and caught Gilbert’s mutterings. “Duh, you are the seaweed of this ship!” 

“T-the seaweed?!” Gilbert looked an interesting mix of offended and mortified. 

“Hey no slacking! Eyes forward, oh seaweed of my ship!” Alice pointed ahead with zeal. 

The grand castle of Hogwarts began to loom over the horizon. Gilbert and Oz had heard stories of Hogwarts, but it didn’t compare to the glory of the real thing. The structure was gargantuan and reeked of magic unlike anything the three of them had ever felt before. Years of well-worn history seemed to seep from the castle and snake around the students, promising with ethereal whispers that future legends would be raised here. 

It sank in with the subtly of a thunderclap that this was the legendary Hogwarts and by no means was this arrival a dream. The three first years were breathless and spellbound by the building, unable to take their eyes off. 

“It’s amazing,” Oz marveled, his emerald eyes twinkling. 

Alice and Gilbert nodded in agreement, feeling the magic around them growing stronger as the boat approached Hogwarts. 

Abruptly, Oz and Alice fell from their sailing stances and onto the ship’s floor, with ungraceful creeks resonating from the boards in protest. 

“AH!” Alice pointed frantically to the bottom of their boat, just shy of where Gilbert sat. A small fountain had emerged from the offending spot. 

Water was leaking into the boat. 

“Awah!” Gilbert cried, scooting away from the crack although he was already at the corner of the ship. As Gilbert’s heart rate sped up, the crack grew as though it was mocking him. 

Oz put his foot over the hole, though the water rebelled and slithered under. “Gil we won’t drown! Calm down!” 

“Stop it!” Alice ordered the water. Suddenly the boat began to rise. 

Accusingly, Oz snapped to Gilbert. “Gil, are you causing the boat to-“ 

Gilbert put his hands up in defense. “The floating isn’t me!”

Looking around, Oz notices that Elliot’s boat is also floating. 

“Whoever is doing that, stop it!” Alice shouts haughtily. 

The boats begin to float down gently, a controlled magic. The elderly woman’s wand is out and pointed at the two boats. Other first years watching in awe as the flying boats are dropped to back to the water, most of them scared. The elderly woman raises her voice, “It seems we have some interesting wizards this year. It’s not unheard of for some peoples’ magic to react like this when entering Hogwarts for the first time. I am Ms. Finn, the gamekeeper, you’re in good hands here, I won’t let you get hurt. The staff at Hogwarts will always keep you safe.”

A warm feeling wrapped around Oz, Gilbert, and Alice at Ms. Finn’s words, although there was a slight unease in the air in regards to who’s magic had triggered. 

“Mind your heads, now,” Ms. Finn warned the fleet of boats. Heeding her words the students duck their heads down. The group of boats floated through drapes of ivy that hid a tunnel under the surface of the cliff. 

After the ivy cleared, the ships were carried through a dark tunnel. Soon enough, the tunnel cleared. Oz had a feeling that they had been brought down instead of straight, and they reached something that resembled a harbor. The boats parked themselves and Ms. Finn led the group to the large oak doors of Hogwarts.

After climbing the flight of well-kept stairs, Ms. Finn smiled at the group. “Welcome to Hogwarts.” She knocked on the door once, with surprising force for someone so gentle-looking, and the large doors swung open. 

Oz did not grow up in poverty by any means. The Vessalius were a loved and praised pureblood family; the Vessalius were one of the four noblest houses in the wizarding world. Oz knew what luxury looked like and he understood what grand was. 

All of Oz’s definitions of amazing were just overridden, however. Inside Hogwarts, the ceilings were higher than any that Oz had ever laid eyes on before. In fact, the ceiling was so high that it hurt his head to crane that high for too long. The walls were stone and lit with torches and to the corner, a marble staircase spiraled up. 

“I’ll take them from here,” another elderly woman spoke. Her face looked like the picture of politeness and Oz thought her grace resembled that of a flower. Her hair was pulled up and genial acceptance seemed to flow from her. One thing Oz noticed about her, which Oz was sure everyone else did too, was that she was bound to a wheelchair. Couldn’t she heal it with magic? Ms. Finn nodded and walked down a different corridor. 

Clearing her voice the wheel-chaired woman spoke, “Hello, please follow me if you would. I am Sheryl Rainsworth, a teacher at Hogwarts and deputy headmistress. If you live an honest life at Hogwarts, we won’t get into too much of a tussle together. Although if not,” Ms. Rainsworth’s smile grew, but it sent shivers throughout the hall, “we may have to talk from time to time. Now,” her smile regained that flower-like quality, “follow me. Before you start your time at Hogwarts you will need to be sorted into a house. The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.”

The group followed the woman down the halls and down to another huge door. From the sounds coming from the door, Oz realized that the first years arrived after all the other students. 

“What was that about?” Alice jutted her chin to Ms. Rainsworth. “Tryin’ to scare us into being do-gooders?”

Oz shared a glance with Alice as he chuckled at her words. Abruptly, Oz stooped, realizing that the usual chastising from his companion was missing. “Wait where is Gil?” Oz looked back. 

Gilbert was dragging his feet behind them looking paler than a ghost. He muttered an eerie mantra of “I’m dead,” repeatedly. “So dead. Deader than dead.”

Slowing down for Gilbert, Oz pulled one of Gilbert’s cheeks harshly. “Stop that.” 

“What if we do have to fight dragons? Even if it’s not that, there is no way I am in Slytherin. The Nightray are going to have my head. I have a feeling about where I’ll the sorted and I know the reputation it has. My brother is going to have such a hard time because of my where I am going to be sorted! It’ll be bad for everyone.” Gilbert’s worries spilled like an overflowing fountain. 

“What’s that about a dragon?” Elliot caught up to Gilbert, his ears having only caught the beginning of Gilbert’s self-deprecation. 

“Ernest told me that we would have to fight one to get sorted into a house.” Gilbert shared, a visible sag in his posture. 

“Vanessa told me we would have to fight the headmaster, Rufus Barma!” Elliot put his hands on his hips.

Alice tutted her finger. “Well, someone was lying!”

Ms. Rainsworth opened the door and the first years filed inside, eager, but with apprehension. Oz’s heart gave a jolt at the realization that he was about to be sorted. Was he Gryffindor? A Ravenclaw? A Slytherin?

The hall they were lead into was even more splendid than the corridors. Candles and torches lit the walls and the ceiling was even higher, Oz didn’t even want to try and look for the top of it. Banners spread along the walls and large windows loomed, enchantingly, all around, causing Oz to feel small. The largest windows, however, were behind four long tables where what appeared to be the teachers sat. The headmaster, Rufus Barma sat at the center, looking almost board despite being surrounded by such grandeur. 

Ms. Rainsworth placed a broken looking stool, in front of the first years. Then, she placed an even rattier, pointed, hat on top of the stool. A moment passed and nothing happened. The teachers began to look at each other with concern, allowing the first years to know that something was wrong.

“Well this is odd,” Ms. Rainsworth said calmly. She picked the hat up and looked inside. 

Oz’ heart skipped a beat. 

A rabbit jumped from the hat and onto Ms. Rainsworth’s lap. It was a very familiar black rabbit. “Oh my.” Ms. Rainsworth held up the rabbit. 

Gilbert tugged on Oz’s shirt. “Hey,” Gilbert sounded mortified, “isn’t that yours?”

Oz swallowed stiffly, examining the rabbit. “Yeah... I don’t know how B-rabbit got there…”

Shuffling through the first years, Oz made his way to Ms. Rainsworth, all eyes on him. Gilbert tried to call Oz back, but Oz wanted B-Rabbit back. “Excuse me, but that’s my rabbit.” Oz told Ms. Rainsworth. 

The hall was silent. 

“Please keep a better eye on your rabbit.” Ms. Rainsworth handed B-Rabbit back to Oz, but it looked to Oz as though B-Rabbit almost didn’t want to leave the warm lap of Ms. Rainsworth and her soothing fingers that combed through his fur.

As Oz went back to the other first years he heard a few upper year students laughing about rabbits and hats, but Oz didn’t understand. What irritated Oz was that he could have sworn the headmaster, Rufus Barma, rolled his eyes at Oz.

“That was crazy!” Gilbert whispered quiet loudly to Oz when he returned. “Standing up in front of everyone, singling yourself-“

Oz held up B-Rabbit in response. “I couldn’t leave him.”

Ms. Rainsworth coughed and put the hat back on the stool. This time the hat sprung to life and began to sing instantly. 

“Rabbits in my head   
I’m in tears

But for now, it’s time to sing with no dread  
Bring about those merry cheers 

Lives will unfold   
Tales brought to light   
House divide brought to mold   
Things made right 

Where do you belong?   
In Ravenclaw with those witty fellows   
In Gryffindor with those so strong   
In Hufflepuff for the more mellow 

Or perhaps in Slytherin with those charming bunch   
Get your rabbits out of YOUR head   
I have just a hunch   
That what’s best is coming ahead”

Applause clapped through the hall when the hat finished its jingle.

“So we just have to try on the hat and it will tell us what house we are in?” Alice clarified. 

Oz nodded, “Seems so. Alice, if you don’t know your last name how will they call you?”

Alice shrugged. 

Gilbert seemed both relieved and terrified. “We just have to put on the hat,” a twitchy smile from Gilbert, “but everyone will be watching us. Everyone will know where we go.” 

“I’ll call your name, and when you’re called, put the hat on and be sorted.” Ms. Rainsworth began to call out names. 

“Abram, Jamal” 

The hat took a few moments to decide. Oz regarded the processes with fascination. 

“RAVENCLAW!” the hat announced at last with a thunderous boom. Jamal stepped off the stole and walked to the Ravenclaw table as the rest of the students applauded, especially the Ravenclaws. 

“Ali, Fatima” 

The hat barely touched her before shouting, “GRYFINDOR” 

“Alice”

Some students noted that there was no surname called out. 

Oz watched Alice get up and go, but Oz was certain that Alice would be fine no matter where she was sorted. Alice seemed like that type of girl who could handle tough situations. Even though it wasn’t neither Oz nor Gilbert sitting up there, both felt their hearts hammering in their chest for Alice, although Gilbert would never admit it. 

Alice put the hat on and soon its voice rang in her head. 

‘This doesn’t look too hard, but you’re an odd one.’

How am I odd?

‘Your memories are cut off. There is some dark, very dark, magic here. I see glimpses of your past, but I can already tell what you are.’

Dark magic?

‘Yes, dark magic. You remind me someone that I sorted long ago, but where you are going is different than where she went. ‘ 

“GRYFINDOR”

It was not a surprise that the fiery girl was sorted into the House of the Lion. Alice picked up Cheshire’s cage and went to the table with a rowdy group of people cheering. A red and gold banner with the symbol of Gryffindor, a lion, hung behind the table proudly. Gilbert and Oz watched Alice as the Gryffindors warmly welcomed her. Alice looked slightly taken aback at all the attention, but after she started talking, she looked as though she found her stride.

Oz smiled, he was glad for Alice. Although, Oz would admit that apart of him was jealous as he watched her, in all her radiance, sitting proudly among the most praised house.

While Oz was staring at Alice, the list had already progressed down to the D’s. 

“Daley, Alex”

“HUFFLEPUFF” 

“Dogra, Anuja”

“RAVENCLAW”

“Donahue, Jasdeep”

“SLYTHERIN”

“Echo” 

All the students did not what to comment on the girl’s odd name. There were too many things to point out about the girl. Her hair was a powdery, unnatural blue, her eyes vacant, and her face was blank like that of a doll. Oz thought she was rather cute, drowning in her black robes, though. 

“HUFFLEPUFF” 

Both Oz and Gilbert were becoming a bundle of nerves as the hat progressed closer to their names. Eventually both tuned out, their minds racing with a million other thoughts about their futures. Time seemed to work differently right now, everything was happening too slow, but at the same time, too fast. 

Oz and Gilbert woke from their revere at a familiar name. 

“Leo” 

Once again, a few people murmured about his lack of surname. Oz and Gilbert didn’t question it too much, more interested in what the hat would have to say. 

Leo put the hat on, hoping to get this over with fast; he did not enjoy he crowed of eyes scrutinizing him. 

‘Don’t like people looking at you for too long, eh? ‘

Not particularly 

‘Your head is loud. ‘

I know 

‘You throw yourself into fantasy to escape the things you don’t want to face. ‘

Stop poking around in my brain 

‘Feisty too’

I’m tempted to take off this hat. 

‘Very loyal too. Hmmm. You love learning, a Ravenclaw trait. Wittiness is your bread and butter too. But… you hide from the world. If the person you hold most dear was to go, you would kill for them, you are that type. You are just trying to live in your world. The world you created for yourself. You would lie to protect this world of yours. You would grow emotional, rash and confused if your own little world were to shatter. No, you are not exactly a Ravenclaw, you are much like a Slytherin, doing what you need to protect your world.’

I don’t see myself as glory searching 

‘No, you’re right. You don’t care much for glory or attention. Where do you think you belong?’

Where do you think I will do well?

‘Ravenclaw will help you escape the world. Slytherin will teach you how to protect it. ‘

You know my answer. 

“SLYTHERIN”

Oz and Gilbert looked to each other, surprised, and then to Elliot, who looked somewhat surprised as well. Gilbert was more confused than Oz, having known Leo for the past few months, vaguely. “Leo was always so into his books. I was sure that he would be a Ravenclaw,” Gilbert rationed. 

“Not all Slytherins are bad,” Oz repeated. “Any house can have bookish people.” 

Gilbert nodded. “I know, but I didn’t think he was a Slytherin. I guess that subtly is a Slytherin trait…” 

Elliot was surprised for certain, but not terribly so. Leo had his stubborn moments and his own high sense of individuality, as though he could exist seemingly perfectly on his own in his own bubble without touching the world. Slytherin suited Leo, Elliot decided. 

“Lunettes, Reim” 

A few students snickered at the name as a boy in glasses took the Sorting Hat upon his head. Oz remembered Reim being mentioned at platform 9 ¾. 

‘You are very mature for your age ‘

Thank you 

‘You are organized, efficient, and rational.’

I’ll take that as a compliment 

‘Hmmm you also are loyal, friendly, and hardworking. You’re even ready to die for your friends. Not rash enough for a Gryffindor. You would do well in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. It’s a close match. However, deep down you wish for peace and knowledge. You think knowledge will bring peace. Knowledge will help your friends; it will help yourself; what it boils down to is your wit. You would therefore grow best in, ‘

“RAVENCLAW”

Reim walked down to the Ravenclaw table, looking deep in thought about the Sorting Hat’s words. 

“Maddon, Fredrick”  
“-GRYFINDOR”

 

“Mccol, Anderson”  
“-HUFFLEPUFF”

 

“Misaki, Kyoko”   
“-SLYTHERIN”

 

“Narafen, Ja’far”  
“-SLYTHERIN”

 

“Nightray, Elliot”

Elliot got took long strides to the stole and then seated himself as he put the hat on. He planted his feet broadly, firmly, on the ground and took in a deep breath. 

‘Another Nightray? ‘

Two more are still coming, in total. There is one more for this year.

‘Oh? It seems they are adopted sons. Do you consider them family? ‘

Of course, I do. They are Nightray, so they are family. 

‘You are different from your brothers and sisters. ‘ 

Am I? 

‘So ambitious, so noble, so prideful, even more so than them. Yet, you are more open-minded. Gryffindor or Slytherin would suit you well. Your regal pride is that of a Slytherin, but your chivalry is that of a Gryffindor. You are loved well by people. ‘

How do you know?

‘I’m a Thinking Cap; I know things. Anyhow it seems you hate self-sacrifice.’

It’s stupid. Live to see another day and do better with your life for the people around you and your own sake. Face forward and accept all that you’ve done. 

‘You’re loyal to your family and dear ones too. You see death as a last restore, not something to jump to, even in dire situations. You dislike pointless chivalry and live by your own rules. An excellent Slytherin you would make, a good Slytherin to clean the name of Slytherin. You know what battles to fight and which to back away from. You would rather live to see another day than die just for the sake of heroic antics. But, you aren’t manipulative and you are pure hearted in your noble ways. Gryffindor would do you good too.’

This is taking a long time

‘It’s such a close match; this is very interesting. Slytherin needs people like you in its history books…. Heh if Godric Gryffindor and Salzaar Slytherin had a child, it would be you.’

“SLYTHERIN” 

There was no surprise here, at least in the eyes of the students. Like all Nightray, Elliot was placed into Slytherin. The students gave Elliot odd looks, as his sorting took an abnormally long time. As Elliot walked to the Slytherin table, he couldn’t stop thinking about what the hat had told him. “A good Slytherin to clean the name of Slytherin.” Elliot didn’t feel out of place sitting at the Slytherin table, as his brothers pattered his back, but the words of the hat distracted Elliot from what should have been his moment of glory. 

Meanwhile, Gilbert was practically ripping Oz’s shoulder off and was bordering on hyperventilating. “Oh god it’s my turn, I-, I-, I-“ 

“Nightray, Gilbert.” Gilbert straightened up like a deer caught in the headlights, his heart stopping and then feeling as though it had just jumped off a cliff. Robotically, Gilbert walked to the stool and put the hat on so far down that it covered his eyes. 

‘You’re the other Nightray.’ 

Yes 

‘Adopted.’ 

Yes 

‘Ouch your head is loud too, like that other one, but it’s more muffled’

I’m sorry?

‘You don’t have any memories that date back more than a few years ago?’

No 

‘This is becoming a trend. What a forgetful generation.’ 

I don’t understand 

‘Do you want to be in Slytherin like the rest of them? ‘

I-… I don’t know. 

‘You don’t feel you are a Slytherin’’ 

No, I-I do.

‘You are a terrible liar. It’s a statement. You don’t feel like you are a Slytherin. ‘ 

I know.

‘You are capable of doing horrendous things for the people you love to keep them safe.’

Yes

‘ But that alone isn’t enough to make you a Slytherin. Loyalty on its own is a trait of many strands. You have no desire for glory. You are earnest, loyal, kind hearted, and devoted. Reckless you can be, for the people you love. Passed all this emotion, it comes down to one thing, your love for others and your desire to please them. So, the answer must be- ‘

I had a feeling it would be this. 

‘I know you did.’ 

“HUFFLEPUFF!”

Gilbert leaped off the stool and scurried to the Hufflepuff table, his eyes locked on the floor as he painfully avoided looking anyone in the eye. There was a halt in the applause as nobody thought that a Nightray would ever be in Hufflepuff, of all things! In the silence, Ernest Nightray scoffed loud enough for most to hear, baritone resonating through hall, “That boy was and will never be a true Nightray. Adopted, ha, the house of Nightray-“ 

Elliot had clapped a hand over Ernest’s mouth, looking surprised at his own disrespectful actions. Taken aback, Ernest looked with wide eyes to Elliot. 

Somewhat flustered, Elliot removed his hand and looked at it in disbelief, but without regret. Oz began to clap for Gilbert, followed by Leo and Elliot along with Alice from the Gryffindor table. Soon the hall was filled with the customary clapping and Gilbert buried himself into the Hufflepuff table in utter shame. His housemates tried to counsel him, but at that moment Gilbert wanting nothing more than to disappear forever. 

Oz felt sorry for Gilbert and furious with the Nightrays for the public humiliation of his friend. They would pay, and it would be with humiliation twice fold that of which they gave Gilbert. Except for Elliot, who seems to be the only sane one of them. 

Personally, Oz wasn’t shocked in the slightest at Gilbert’s sorting. In fact, Oz suspected that Gilbert already knew where he was going to be sorted as well. They both were trying not to say it. If Gilbert was not a Hufflepuff, then perhaps he had a few Gryffindor colours in him, but nothing of Slytherin.

Gilbert loved and devoted his whole heart fully and earnestly. It was those traits that Oz loved about him. No matter the amount of time that the two had spent apart from one another, Oz knew that those were the fundamental traits of Gilbert’s nature that made Gilbert, Gilbert. 

“Nocks, Wayland”

“-RAVENCLAW”

Eventually, the names got to the V’s and Oz was beginning to become rather jittery. Oz jolted up when he finally heard his name called. 

“Vessalius, Oz” 

The crowd of students seemed to disappear when Oz began to walk towards the hat. Tunnel vision surrounded Oz as he zeroed in on his own sorting. His future would be made here. 

‘A slightly noisy head. ‘

What? 

‘Never mind. Let’s see what we got here… crafty… devious… a strong need to prove yourself… loyal… self-sacrificing…. You would do well in either Gryffindor or Slytherin. More of a schemer, though, are we now? Although you do value chivalry a lot. Gryffindor aligns more with your values, but Slytherin with your practices. Also, there’s something very Slytherin… underneath you. Under most circumstances I would place you in Gryffindor, to grow into what you want to be, but this year, with that OTHER Slytherin… yes Slytherin will help you with your issues. Learn to value yourself. Embrace yourself for who you are. You have traits from many of the houses, young wizard.’

If I’d do well in Gryffindor, could you put me there?

‘Such a strong need to prove yourself to your father that you would squirm your way to Gryffindor even after all that I’ve rambled? ‘

Some people have said I’m twisted when I have a goal set. 

‘If you want to be in Gryffindor, I can do that. You would grow better in Slytherin this year, however. You could try proving your father wrong instead of playing into his hands. Become a great wizard of Slytherin. ‘

He won’t look at me then 

‘Would he look at you either way? ‘

I suppose not. 

“SLYTHERIN” 

The applause didn’t come. A Vessalius in Slytherin? Moreover, the heir to Vessalius, in Slytherin? It was more of a shock than the adopted Nightray in Hufflepuff, the purebloods wrinkled their nose in disgust.

Of course, the applause came eventually starting with Alice’s boisterous claps and Gilbert’s timid ones. For the sake of tradition, the rest of the crowd joined, and Oz headed down to the Slytherin table. Oz seated himself next to Leo, since they had already been introduced to each other on the train. Trying to ignore all the hushed whispers from the purebloods who were without a doubt going to tell their parents of Oz’s sorting, Oz looked at the long table where the teachers sat. 

Oz’s eyes stopped on a very familiar face. “U-Uncle Oscar!” Oz stared at his uncle, who was blowing kisses to Oz, in disbelief. Why was his uncle here? Oz couldn’t believe that he had not noticed Oscar before, even if his mind had been confused and focused on the sorting.

“You didn’t know? He’s a teacher here,” Elliot informed Oz as though it were common knowledge, making Oz feel stupid. 

“I never knew. Doesn’t he work at the ministry?” Oz leaned back on his chair.

Leo waved his hand in dismissal. “He did work at the ministry fifteen years ago, but since then he’s been the Charms teacher. How did you not know this?” 

Staring at his uncle, Oz had a feeling that his uncle did all that he could to somehow keep this fact from Oz. It was an Oscar thing to do.

“The Nightrays have it weird too,” Leo redirects Oz’s vision to a stern looking man sitting at the head table, far from Oscar. “That’s the potions teacher, Bernard Nightray. He’s Elliot’s father.” 

“Just how many Nightrays are at the school?” Oz whined. 

“Almost all of them,” Leo supplies. “Six out of seven Nightray children are in the school this year. The last one will come next year, but by then the eldest Nightray will graduate. Lady Nightray works in the ministry, so you don’t have to worry about her.” 

“Anyways,” Elliot rests his head on his hand, “why is a Vessalius in Slytherin?” The elephant in the room was acknowledged.

“There isn’t a rule that says I can’t be in Slytherin,” counters Oz, adapting fluidly to the circumstances; despite the cold-blood that runs through his body at the gravity of what had just transpired. 

Elliot juts his chin high, pretentiously. “Like a ‘day walker’ Vessalius like you can survive in a house like this. You’ll be eaten alive and, no, your wet maid can’t come help you.”

Oz smiles politely, but it was dressed in venom. “You seem too nice to survive in this house as well, Elliot.”

“Excuse me?” Elliot flares, eye brow twitching. “I am a Nightray. My family has been part of this house for generations, this house is made for me, obviously.”

“I said, you’re too kind for Slytherin.” Repeats the shorter male, speaking nonchalantly. 

Elliot turns away from Oz. “Don’t think I’m going to be friends with you, Vessalius, just because you landed yourself in Slytherin!”

A response was ready on Oz’s tongue, but then, from the corner of Oz’s eye, he sees a trail of translucent silver from across the table and finds his eyes wandering. Oz’s eyes widen when he realizes it’s a floating woman. “Elliot, that’s the Slytherin ghost,” Vanessa Nightray nods to the ghost. 

“Why is she headless and holding four heads in her arms?” Oz inquires, scratching his head. 

“Don’t speak to me!” Vanessa gives Oz a glare that could pierce skin. 

Oz raises his hands in defense and the spits as he looks away. 

The ghost circles around Oz, the eyes of the four heads following Oz like a hawk. The bulging blueish eyes caused the hairs on Oz’s back to stand straight. The ghost wears long Victorian clothing with intricate lace. Oz flashes a charming smile to the ghost, who seems fascinated with Oz. “Hello, my lady.”

“My lady?” the four heads in the ghost’s hands, two female and two male, chorus. “No, call me the Queen of Hearts.” The four heads hum in unison. “You look so much like him. You’re even in Slytherin, just like him.”

“Like who?” Oz tries not to stare at the decapitated heads in her arms. They were simultaneously fascinating and disturbing. 

The heads laugh, a harmonious sound. “Like your ancestor, Jack Vessalius, of course!”

“Jack wasn’t a Slytherin, he was a Gryffindor.” Oz squints at all four heads. 

The heads stop cackling and their mouths all drop open. “Pardon me, you are right. A dead woman’s memory tends to muddle itself. Jack Vessalius was a great Gryffindor. You look so much like him; I can’t believe you are a Slytherin.”

“She’s always saying crazy stuff like this to mess with us. Gets a sick kick out of it. Jack Vessalius, a Slytherin, how ridiculous,” Vanessa twirls a stand of her hair. 

Oz opens his mouth to ask a question, but then closes it. Some questions are better left unsaid and this ghost did seem to have her head screwed on the wrong way. Or her heads, if all four were hers. 

“Go on, sweet child, ask what you want to.” The ghost wraps her slender arms around Oz’s shoulders. It’s an odd feeling, Oz thinks, seeing arms around you but your sense of touch not agreeing with your eyes. 

“Where is your head, or are these all your heads?”

The ghost drops her heads onto the table, they tumble like stones. “Alas, little boy, I don’t know. I have many heads, but I can no longer remember which pretty little head is mine. It doesn’t matter because all these heads are much more beautiful than mine could have been.” The Queen of Heart’s strokes one of the male heads with long silvery hair. 

The Queen of Hearts redirects her gaze to Leo. She circles around him, and moves one of her heads close enough to sniff him. If the Queen had a head attached to her neck, Oz was sure it would be craned down at Leo. “I can’t get a good look at your face, child.”

“Go away,” Leo spits coldly. 

Four heads look at Leo incredulously. The Queen of Hearts walks, erm floats, away with her back straight as an arrow. 

Oz watches The Queen of Hearts move to the Hufflepuff table. Her long slender fingers hold Gilbert’s head while Gilbert looks paler than the ghost. 

“Why is that ghost looking at our heads?” Elliot asks his siblings. 

Claude Nightray shrugs. “She does this every year. It scares most students. The Queen can’t chop any heads of because she is a ghost, but it still sets us on edge. Some people call her The Beheading Queen.”

Ms. Rainsworth claps her hands together, somehow echoing loud enough to bring silence to the chaotic hall. The sorting hat had been put away and the headmaster, Rufus Barma, stood up, ready to address the school.

“Welcome to Hogwarts,” Rufus Barma began, still looking board in Oz’s opinion. “Try not to make this year hard for us, especially Sheryl. That’s all.” Headmaster Barma sat down. 

Oz narrowed his gaze at the headmaster. “What was that? Ugh, I just don’t like him.” 

Leo snickered. 

The empty plates in front of Oz were now loaded with food upon food upon food. “Whoa!” Oz looked at the feast spread out before him. The strawberry cake seemed to ooze with sweetness and all the deserts seemed to sparkle. Noticing that all the other students were diving into the food, Oz followed them and took a large slice of cake. Uncle Oscar wasn’t looking, and so Oz reveled in the freedom in choosing his own menu for once. 

“Don’t start with desert!” Elliot scolded Oz, looking at Oz pointedly. 

“Elliot,” Fred Nightray called, “you don’t need to look after a Vessalius.” 

Picking up his fork and knife intently, Elliot served himself some mashed potatoes, pretending as though Oz didn’t exist. 

After taking a long swig from his cup, Leo whispered to Oz, “Don’t worry about Elliot. He doesn’t really hate you.” 

“That would be nice,” Oz admitted. 

Oz wasn’t exactly sure how he was supposed to be feeling at this moment. 

The sorting ceremony was finished and now he sat among Slytherins, away from Gilbert and Alice. If Oz had pushed harder, would he have been put in Gryffindor? The hat had said that Oz would make a good Gryffindor.

Taking a bite of his cake, Oz decided that this was okay. After all, if anything happens, Oz would go with the flow. There’s no sense in worrying about what can’t be changed; it’s better for everyone if Oz doesn’t cause a fuss. It was Oz’s own personality that landed him in Slytherin in the first place. He dug this grave for himself.

“Hello Slytherin first years,” a charismatic voice began, “I am Fred Nightray, the Head Boy of Slytherin. This is Cloe Lightrain, the Head Girl.” Fred gestures to the small woman beside him. “These are our prefects,” Fred gestures to six students on the other side of himself. 

One of the prefect, Claude Nightray steps forward. “The Prefects of Slytherin are myself Claude Nightray,” Claude gestured to himself, “Ernest Nightray, Vanessa Nightray, Serena Khol, Sarah Nicolson, and Mathew Willson.”

Chatter scattered around the Slytherin table at the end of the genera introductions, but the conversations avoided Oz. Most of the Slytherins were talking about their summer and their family’s outstanding status. The Nightrays spoke in hushed voices and occasionally glanced at Oz. The young blond didn’t care what the Nightrays were talking about. When Oz had eaten his fill, he set B-Rabbit on his lap and stroked his fur absentmindedly. No one here would like to talk about the Vessalius family unless it was demeaning them. 

At the head table, Oscar was having an animated discussion with Sheryl Rainsworth. More than anything, Oz couldn’t wait to begin classes and learn how to properly use magic, but Oz didn’t want to face Oscar in classes yet. Surly, Oscar would be accepting of him, but Oz didn’t want to detect hidden disappointment in his eyes. 

But for now, if nobody was going to talk to him, Oz was content to listening and getting a feel of his housemates. 

“Did you hear all those names without last names?”

“Guess we got a lot of muggle orphans this year.”

“Poor them, we should kill them before it gets too painful for them.” The voice was laced with fake sympathy.

Suddenly, a spoon began to float from Oz’s hand and landed itself, harshly, on the head of one of the voices. She yelped, startling Oz, and then stood up and looked around incredulously. 

“I bet an orphan would make a better wizard than you,” Leo smirked cockily as he drew attention to himself.

Oz took note of the fact that Leo was an eavesdropper as well, clearly. 

The one hit with a spoon, a blond girl, looked up at Leo. “Oh dear, we got one of the no surname blokes in our house. You’re a first year, how do you know magic?” 

“I don’t know magic. It just happens.” Leo explained, shrugging his shoulders. 

Oz also took note of that fact. It, in a way, reminded Oz of Gilbert’s raw magic, but Leo’s seemed to have more precision seeing as he directed the spoon with a degree of control. 

Vanessa sighed. “What is Slytherin coming to? Leo doesn’t belong here and neither does that Vessalius brat. Oh, and a boy with the name of Nightray is in Hufflepuff! What a disgrace. This is going to be a messy year.”

The food disappeared and Rufus Barma stood up once more. “Let’s review several rules.” The drawl to his tone caused Oz to, once again, get the impression that he rather be anywhere but here. “Firstly, students are nay allowed in the Forbidden Forest, if thou were not able to figure that out by thy name. Dost not use magic in the corridors or one of thy ghosts will not close their mouth. Qudditch trials will commence in a week; contact Dalia Garland if thou wish to try out. That will be all at this moment. Sing now.”

At once the students sung the school anthem in a disorganized fashion, but Headmaster Barma looked as though he could care less about school pride or quality of the customary chant. When the school finished their sad version of unison, Rufus Barma waved his hand in dismissal. “By my troth, what music. Off to bed now.” 

The first year Slytherins followed the flock the Nightray prefects when they got up. Oz’s mind screamed for sleep, but his mind was wide-awake with a second wind of energy that came from wanting to see his dorm. As Oz followed the Prefects, he spotted Gilbert and Alice following their own house’s Prefects. Oz detoured, keeping an eye on his group still, to speak to the two of them.

“Alice! Gil,” Oz ran to them. “We all got put in different houses,” Oz couldn’t help but snicker at fate. 

“I had a feeling I was going to end up in Hufflepuff,” Gilbert frowned, finally admitting his feeling aloud. “You got put in Slytherin. Looks like we both are breaking our family’s unspoken rules.”

Alice crossed her arms. “From what the other Gryffindors said, Hufflepuff sounds really lame and Slytherin is evil.”

“They aren’t lame!” Gilbert protested. “Okay maybe they have that reputation but… they were kind to me.”

“The Slytherins don’t approve of me yet,” Oz admitted, throwing his hands behind his back. “In fact, most of them seem to hate me.”

“Gryffindor is great! We had a meat-eating contest! The meat was so good there.” Alice drooled. 

Oz smiled, following on Alice’s train of thought. “The cake was good too.”

“I was too nervous to eat much,” Gilbert looked around to find the rest of the Hufflepuffs. “I have to go. Be careful, Oz. I heard the Slytherin ghost is scary.”

“The Queen of Hearts? I’ve met her already, she seemed interested in me. She also seemed insane and said some crazy things.” 

Gilbert shuddered. “She said she thought my head was cute. Her nails were as sharp as knives, if they weren’t transparent I’m sure she would have-” Gilbert sucked in a breath. “Um, anyways, The Hufflepuff ghost is nice! Her name is Shelly Rainsworth and she’s a teacher here! Oh and, did you see, er, Professor Vessalius? I did not know he was a teacher!”

“Wow,” Alice remarked, “there are a lot of Nightrays and Rainsworths and a few Vessalius thrown in too.”

“Vessalius, Nightray, Barma, and Rainsworth are all the noblest of pureblood wizarding houses,” Oz explains. “You’ll learn more about them, I’m sure.” Oz put a hand on Gilbert’s shoulder. “I had no idea that there was a ‘Professor Vessalius.’” Quickly, Oz glanced at his group, who were a distance away. “Ah I’ve got to go, see you Alice, Gil!”

With those parting words, the three ran back to their Prefects and continued to follow their house. Oz’s group was heading down, so Oz concluded that the dorms were underground. A slithering sound ran through the walls as the Slytherins went down a flight of stairs. 

“Is that the sound of running water?” Oz questioned. 

Fred Nightray, the Head Boy, gave Oz a dirty look, as though Oz had broken a rule by speaking, but nevertheless answered, “Yes. The Slytherin dorms are surrounded by water outside. Our common room is the Slytherin dungeons. We like the calm lurking of the deep water around us. Too scary for you, Vessalius?”

Oz ignored him. 

Soon they reached a stonewall. “The wall will let you into the dorms if you give the correct password. The passwords change so keep an eye out in the common room for them. For now, the password is ‘Hexes’.” Vanessa announced, opening the dorm. Oz stepped through pathway and into the Slytherin dorms. 

The room had a cold nip to it and the room was dank. Like the name suggests, it had the layout of a dungeon with its sleek stone walls and ceiling. Green tinted lamps lit the room, giving a mysterious atmosphere. 

Perhaps it is because of the lake location that even the walls seemed to have a glowing green tint to them. The room gave off an eerie feeling, but at the same time it made Oz feel calculated and relaxed. There were desks and tables, for studying no doubt. 

“There is one more thing we have to tell you,” Fred Nightray began. 

Ernest Nightray continued, “Each year Hogwarts has a House Cup. Students try to score points for their houses by winning Quidditch matches and answering questions in class. At the end of the year, the Cup is rewarded to the house with the most points. You can also lose points for misconduct. We of Slytherin don’t live by the rules, and we don’t expect any of you to live by the rules, but bending the rules and not getting caught is the bread and butter of our kind. Do what it takes to win, but to it smartly.” 

“Gryffindor won the Cup last year so this year we need to take that honor back to where it belongs!” Vanessa smirks. “First year males, your bunks are down the back. Females follow me. Boys aren’t allowed in the female dorms, of course.” 

Oz, Elliot, Leo and two other first years went in the direction that was being pointed out to them. There were five beds in the room and one large green tinted window that looked out to the water. 

“I’ll take this one.” Leo brought his trunk to the bed closest to the window on the right side. “This one is mine,” Elliot claimed the one of the left side closest to the window. Oz also preferred to be closer to the window and put his trunk on the bed between the two. The other two male Slytherins occupied the other two beds, closer to the door, and chatted with each other.

When Oz sat on the bed he understood how tired he was. B-Rabbit had fallen asleep in Oz’s arms and Oz was just about ready to fall sleep as well. Oz set B-Rabbit down into his cage, not exactly certain where to put him. The boys changed into their pajamas, brushed their teeth, and climbed into bed quickly.

Elliot had looked cross that Oz picked the bed directly beside Elliot’s, but both were too exhausted to complain at that moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell I had a lot of feelings about the house sorting?
> 
> Summery of my reasons 
> 
> Oz: While he is willing to give up his life for his friends and is quick to jump to heroism, I still believe he is a slytherin. Even if we take his sense of heroics, the Gryffindor house would encourage such actions and that's not the way Oz grew in canon, nor the growth he will have in this fic.   
> \- Slytherin
> 
> Alice: Self-explanatory  
> \- Gryffindor
> 
> Gilbert: In canon, as a Nightray he has killed people and done unsavory actions in order to one day get Oz back. However, as Vincent has stated over and over, (although I paraphrase) Gilbert's nature is not to lie or deceive. It's also, in my opinion, pretty clear that Gilbert is not proud of the actions he has had to take. Overall, once those nuances are taken out, Gilbert becomes a pretty solid Hufflepuff  
> -Hufflepuff
> 
> Reim: He's very hardworkng and loyal so I contemplated Hufflepuff, but then I remembered that one omake where they compared Gilbert and Reim and after that, I thought he seemed more like a Ravenclaw. The middle man, peacemaker, negotiator.   
> \- Ravenclaw
> 
> Elliot: Brave, prideful, ambitious, hotheaded, but still goes in Slytherin to me for his views on typically Gryfindor antics and sense of nobility. Not all Slytherin's are bad 2k17  
> \- Slytherin
> 
> Leo: Definitely the type to kill for the people he loves. Books and knowledge are escape not endgame.   
> \- Slytherin


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, remember how I said that I wrote this like over a year ago and that I was just posting this now? I'd been editing the previous chapters, so that they don't sound sloppy, to an extent, but this chapter... man is this raw. It's mostly filler and world building so I tried to leave out Oz's intense monologues. Plus, he canonly tries to adjust to any situation before thinking much deeper about it. 
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy. 
> 
> OC's will NOT be playing a major role, but we need more characters to flesh out the world here sooooo
> 
> :^)

Faint sea-green light danced spiders gently in the dim room. The light was fleeting, fading to nothing one moment and back with new vigor the next second. 

Emerald eyes blinked slowly with sleep as they absentmindedly followed the light-cobwebs. Oz smiled faintly at the window that looked upon the waters outside the dorm. For a dorm called a ‘dungeon’ the morning light reflected through the water was not dark and dreary as the name would have suggested. Instead, the morning was calm, tranquil, and ethereal. 

“It’s not harsh light,” one of the male Slytherins commented, admiring the window alongside Oz; although, his words were clearly directed at everyone in the room rather than Oz, if the volume was an accurate indicator. “I didn’t introduce myself last night. My name is Darian Snow, pureblood.” 

Darian had was a tall male with sleek jet-black hair and icy blue eyes. His facial structure was nothing of particular note, aside from typical aristocratic features and thick eyebrows. 

“I’m Skylar Lightrain, my older sister, Cloe, is the Head Girl. I’m also a pureblood.” A short male with an offsetting presence and a voice just above a whisper introduced himself. Skylar’s hair was of such fine gold that one would think it to be white and it was long enough to be kept in a low ponytail that hung down his back. 

“I’m Elliot Nightray,” Elliot introduced, “pureblood as well.” 

“How many Nightrays are there? I’ve heard the Head of Slytherin is your father, the potions teacher.” Skylar’s voice dripped with sarcasm, but his demeanor was placid. 

“There are seven Nightray children and yes my father is the Head of this house.” Elliot answers, ignoring the jib as he stood up to streach. 

“Seven?” Darian’s icy eyes widened comically. “My mother and father work with your family and they did tell me that there were many Nightray children, but, seven? How many are attending Hogwarts right now?” 

“Six of us. Five are in this house, one in Hufflepuff, and the other isn’t at the school yet.” Elliot yawned. “I would think that you would be more informed about our family, considering that we are one of the four most influential. 

“Please, of all the four, the Nightrays pride themselves on not letting the public know more than they let them know. All we must go on are rumors until the Nightrays reveal themselves. Aren’t two adopted?” Skylar twirls his hair between his fingers. “The Nightray’s wouldn’t do something like adopt a muggle born, right?”

“Adopted or not, they are Nightray now, and my family knows what they are doing.” Elliot’s eyes narrow and grow darker. “It would be best not to get too nosey in our internal affairs.” Returning to his previous demeanor, albeit slightly distant, Elliot continues. “That said I have to question my brother’s choice of company; it’s disgraceful.” Elliot’s eyes flickered to Oz. 

Oz meets Elliot’s eyes and returns his gaze blankly. 

“Who are you?” Darian looks to Oz, or Leo, Oz found it hard to tell.

“I’m Oz Vessalius.” Oz put on the voice he uses when introducing himself at parties. The Slytherin have a reputation for discriminating against muggles and muggle borns so Oz though it wise to add in, “I’m a pureblood.” The best way to survive here was to play their own game.

“I wasn’t talking to you, Vessalius,” Darian spit towards Oz. 

Oz shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and stuck his tongue out when Darian’s piercing ice eyes looked away. Not for the first time, Oz wished to erase his sir name and whatever resemblance he had to the hero of old, famous Gryffindor, Jack Vessalius. 

“Leo. My name is Leo.” Leo said bluntly, acknowledging that he was being addressed . 

“Why don’t you have a last name?” Darian analyzes Leo.

Leo’s hair is long enough to hide his eyes, but now he has round coke bottle glasses on and they protrude out of his hair. With his unruly tangled hair, Oz can see why Leo doesn’t fit the description of a well-groomed and pampered Slytherin child.

“I’m an orphan. Plus, I can’t remember my mother or my father’s surnames.” Leo answers quickly. 

“Are you a pureblood?” Skylar sneered with a certain edge to his tone, pointing a skeletal finger accusingly at Leo. Quickly, Oz realizes that this is a make or break test for Leo.

“Who knows?” Leo shrugs, uncaring of Slytherin customs. “I can do magic, probably well, so who cares?” 

Oz then decided it was a good idea to get up and go get changed into his school robes for the day before he had to watch Darian and Skylar’s faces grow blotchy and disgusted.

He was grateful that the other two Slytherin males didn’t ask Oz too many questions about being a Vessalius because they are occupied with Leo. 

Fixing his tie, Oz thought that the Slytherin tie looked well on him. The silver and green Slytherin tie matched Oz’s eyes. “If houses were based on aesthetics, Elliot would be a Ravenclaw and all the Vessalius would be Slytherin.” Oz snorted at the thought. 

Hogwarts was impossible to navigate with its sheer size and odd quirks. Oz was lucky that the Slytherin dungeons didn’t involve many stairs because Oz could have sworn that as he walked through the halls, one of the staircases turned into a slide while students were walking down it. It was a fun scenario to watch, but not so much to be in.

As Oz walked he noticed a ghost was watching him intently. “Hello?” Oz spoke to the ghost. 

The ghost looked soulless, with hallow eyes like that of a blind man. The ghost was not youthful, but instead covered in wrinkles that caused it to look like it’s skin was going to fall off any second. The figure was clocked in a dark cloak, causing it to look like the Grim Reaper. In fact, this ghost could give grim reapers a run for their money. 

“Classes?” The ghost asked with a crane of its head, moments reminiscent of an owl. A shiver ran down Oz’s spine. 

Oz nodded, more focused on the ghost than on what the ghost was saying. 

“First year?” The ghost seemed to look right through Oz. Its voice was raspy and quiet, so Oz had to strain to listen. 

“Yes.” 

“Potions with the Hufflepuffs?” 

“Um, yes.” 

“Go straight, watch out for the cracked tile, it tries to throw people off it if you step on it incorrectly. Then make a left and go down. After that take the door on your right and that’s your class.” 

Oz thanked the strange ghost, wondering which house she belonged to and feeling uneasy. With directions now set, Oz made his way to potions class, somewhat excited. Potions with the Hufflepuffs mean potions with Gilbert, after all.

The class had not started yet and the students were still arriving when Oz entered. Surely they would allow tardiness for the first years that don’t know the school’s layout on the first day of school. Gilbert, surprisingly, was already in class. Oz took the seat next to Gilbert and in front of a shared caldron. 

“How are the ‘puff dorms?” Oz asks the moment he sits down. Secretly, although they had not been apart long, Oz was grateful to see Gilbert’s familiar face. 

Gilbert was startled by Oz’s sudden appearance, but relaxed when he understood who it was. “The Hufflepuff basement is amazing,” Gilbert smiled to himself. “The room is warm, very warm, and there are circular windows, high up, that give gentle light to the common room. It smells like the earth and it’s one of the coziest places I’ve ever been to. There are plants scattered around the room too, they smell welcoming and peaceful.” 

“That sounds like the opposite of the Slytherin rooms,” Oz noted. 

“What are they like?” Gilbert looked to Oz with interest. “Dungeons don’t really sound like a nice place to sleep in, to be honest.”

“It’s cold, but I wouldn’t call it fridge. The Slytherin dungeons are under the lake. You can hear running water as you sleep if you listen carefully, it sounds like the slithering of snakes. The rooms have a tinge of coldness to them and the water from the lake gives everything a pale green mystic glow. Even the lamps are green! There’s also a small echo but that might just be me. It’s a mysterious room that tells of something hidden under its clam waters.” Oz grins, “I actually like it.”

Gilbert snorts. “This is why I could never be a Slytherin.”

“Maybe monsters lurk outside the watery windows, Gil! Cat monsters! Catfish!” Oz’s eyes held a devious glint to them. 

At the mere mention of a cat monster, Gilbert tenses. “With all the magic in this school, a monster could be possible.”

Oz laughs at Gilbert’s fear. Smiling to himself, Oz regards Gilbert fondly. The years that Xai Vessalius had forced the two apart were lonely for Oz, but now, at Hogwarts, Oz would be able to tease Gilbert every day and as much as he wanted.  
“Anyways, the Hufflepuff tie looks nice on you. The yellow matches your eyes. See, destined to be a Hufflepuff?”

“The Slytherin tie matches your eyes too.” Gilbert notices. “Destined to be a Slytherin?” 

“That’s it Gil! We’ve solved how that blasted Sorting Hat works! It looks at your eye colour!” Oz strokes his chin thoughtfully. “Maybe after that ratty hat retires, I’ll take over the position. Or maybe B-rabbit can, since its been in there once already.” 

Gilbert chuckles. “B-rabbit has too much energy. I had a heart attack when you went up to get B-rabbit during the sorting!”

Before Oz could respond, he was silenced by an authoritative presence that entered the room. A hush fell over the room like ripple spreads in water. 

“Good morning,” a stern voice greets, low and flat. “I’m the potions master, Bernard Nightray. You will address me as Professor Nightray.” Professor Nightray’s eyes glance to Elliot, who sits next to Leo a few rows in front of Oz. 

“This class will not teach you spells, but the techniques you will learn in this class,” Nightray paused, letting his rich voice ring, “could save or end someone’s life.”

“Now,” he continued, “can anybody tell me what Death Root is?” 

Oz had no idea what a Death Root was, but to Oz’s surprise he could feel Gilbert’s shaky hand attempting to raise, but then being put down out of fear. “Gil, if you know it, answer.” Gilbert gulped. “But-“ Oz gave Gilbert a stern look. 

Slowly, Gilbert raised his hand, quivering more than Oz thought was humanly possible. Bernard looked to Gilbert; ill feelings for his adopted son clear as day. “Gilbert Nightray, do you know?” 

“Y-yes,” Gilbert looked at his cauldron instead of at his professor. “Death Root comes from trees that grow in the desert. They get their name because they are one of the few magical i-ingreidents that can grow in the desert climate. They are good for reliving tension, but if b-brewd wrong, they start to smell bad and cause irritation.” 

Professor Nightray’s face was stoic. “Correct,” he enunciated the ‘t’ pointedly, “two points for Hufflepuff. However, it’s rude to not look at your professors when they address you. Learn some manners. Are you a nobleman or a mouse? Two points from Hufflepuff.” 

Gilbert sunk in his chair, hiding his face in the crook of his elbow. He looked mortified, like he had just saw his own grave. Silently, Gilbert frantically muttered, “Let this be over soon.”

Glaring sharply, Oz squinted threateningly at Professor Nightray. It was a dirty move that he pulled on Gilbert. 

“Moving on,” Professor Nightray walked slowly back and forth, staring into the souls of each student. “Does anybody know what Fickleberry is?” 

Oz could hear Gilbert speak under his breath, “It’s used to strengthen vision,” but Gilbert did not put up his hand this time. Oz didn’t request him to, either. Instead, Leo raised his hand. “It strengthens vision and grows underwater in cold climates.” 

Professor Nightray’s expression remained unchanging. There was a prolonged pause as Professor Nightray scanned the room, gaging each student. Daggers shot from his eyes at Oz when he made moment of eye contact with the Vessalius, but Oz returned the look with a smile, to which Professor Nightray openly displayed his irritation. After the Professor looked away, Oz smirked to himself. “Yes very good. Ten points to Slytherin. Mr. Vessalius what are honeyed leaves?”

Oz sat up in his seat. This game that Professor Nightray was playing would only work if Oz cared. Frankly, Oz did not care. “I don’t know,” the blond answered bluntly. 

Needless to say, it wasn’t the right time to comment on how the teacher should be teaching, not expecting the fresh students to know the answers to these questions. 

Oz heard some giggles across the room, but he retained his composure. 

“One point from Slytherin,” Professor Nightray grated out of his teeth. “Honeyed leaves are used to kill infections when small enough. Today we are going to learn how to cure pink eye infections. Turn to page 20 in your books. Today is a diagnostic test. Partner up and brew the potion.” Professor Nightray instructed. 

“Hey, Gil~” Oz smiled wickedly at his friend. “You seem to know a lot about potions, want to be my partner?” 

Gilbert nodded and then blushed. “I learned how to cook, the muggle way since I didn’t know how to use magic. Cooking was fun and it’s kind of like potions, so I ended up studying potions out of interest.” 

When Gilbert served Oz, Gilbert often brought Oz many of the treats that Oz liked. It never occurred to Oz that Gilbert must have been making those treats himself. 

The two turned their book, ‘Potions 1 for Beginners’ to page 20. 

With a flick of his wand, Professor Nightray distributed the ingredients to the students. Gilbert picked up the Death Root, squinted at the potions book, and then began to cut the root with skilled hands. 

Oz got his own death root out and tried to copy Gilbert’s hand movements. Gilbert told Oz to let him cut the root, it was the key element in the potion from what he knew, and told Oz to squeeze the Fickleberries after showing Oz how to get the most juice out of the squeeze. 

It amazed Oz at how talented Gilbert was at Potions. The raven-haired boy was able to multitask easily, preheating the caldron while quickly chopping up the last of the Death Root. 

“Put the juice in now, but pour it slow so it will spread. That’s the way you pour batter at least.” Gilbert instructed, moving to skin the honeyed leaves. 

Professor Nightray observed the students. When passing by Gilbert, he stopped and watched. Gilbert knew that Professor Nightray was watching him and tried to stay focused on the Potion. Attention split, Gilbert cut himself with the knife. 

“Foolish,” Professor Nightray flicked his wand, healing Gilbert, and then moved on.

Oz was starting to really hate Professor Nightray despite the fact that he was the Head of the Slytherin house. 

At the end of class, Oz handed in his and Gilbert’s potion with a certain scorn and then left to go to his next class, Transfiguration with the Gryffindors. Although he and Alice had just met, Oz liked her a lot. Alice was like the run, radiant and shining. 

The Transfiguration teacher was a teacher by the name of Professor Kate. She looked to be an uptight no-nonsense, type of teacher to Oz. Professor Kate begun the class by explaining transfiguration what the art of changing something’s appearance, but it had its own laws and limits. “For instance,” she had said as she tapped the desk beside her, “you could change this desk into a pig.” Just as she said, the desk turned into a pig, much the amazement of the Slythrins and Gryffindors. 

“I don’t expect many of you to be able to do this today, but we are going to try to turn matches into needles. That said, you need to take notes on how the process works first on page 3, but those of you who want to try are welcome to.” Professor Kate instructed as she wrote down some extra notes on the board. 

Alice yawned as she took the notes from the textbook. “There are a lot of numbers here and half of them are being used in metaphors. Mathaphors.” 

“Right?” Oz agreed with a snicker. “Although, this is actually making sense to me, unlike potions.” 

Slumping her head on the desk, Alice looked to Oz skeptically. “It makes sense?”

“Yeah. You have to use the Mataphor to get it. Elements have a value, but there are intersections in the values between the elements. Even though they intersect, they still aren’t the same because the final value is different. What this magic does is that it treats the elements like a puzzle. It pulls out the intersection and reforms the surroundings of it into something else, that way the object remains stable. I think.” 

Alice picked her head up from the desk, ink smudged on her cheek. “I think Defense Against the Dark Arts was an easier course.” 

“Is that what you had before this?” 

“Yeah. It was Defense with the Ravenclaws. Do you know Reim Lunettes?” Alice asked. 

Oz shook his head.

“He’s in Ravenclaw and he knew EVERYTHING before the teacher even taught it! When we tried some practices, he wasn’t able to get it that easily though. Actually, I got it pretty fast after he explained to me. It was fun. He explains all the theory and then I do. But for now,” Alice made a sound reminiscent of a dying cat, “we have to do transfiguration.” 

“Alice?” Oz suddenly had a question appear in his head. “What type of wand do you have?” 

“My wand?” Alice pulled her wand out. “I didn’t have any money when I woke up in Diagon Alley, but I told the shop keepers that I would pay them back later if I got the stuff now. I’m in debt. Anyways, my wand is English Oak, Siren hair core and I think 13 inches. The wand shop owner said I was lucky that I didn’t have to travel overseas to find my wand since most of the ones he tried didn’t work for me.”

Siren hair was not a core that Oz had heard being used often, or at all. “My wand is also Oak, but it’s Red Oak instead. It has phoenix feather at its core and its 11.5 inches.”

Alice observed the wand, taking note of its rich colour. 

“What’s the Gryffindor common room like?” Oz asked, changing the subject. 

Alice puffed out her chest. “It’s in a tower! The room is gold and red; it looks fiery and alive. The view from the windows lets you get a good look at Hogwarts, but the morning sun hurt my eyes a bit.” 

“A tower? Slytherins have an underground dungeon.” Oz almost laughed at the irony.

Alice looked confused. “They keep students in a dungeon?” 

“It’s a furnished dungeon.” 

“Alice! Mr. Vessalius! Get to work!” Professor Kate hounded. 

“I’m going to try to perform the spell,” Oz announced, picking up his wand. Channeling his energy and flicking his hand the way Professor Kate had shown, Oz tried to transform the match. 

“Did it work?” Alice looked at the match closely. 

Oz slumped in his chair dejectedly. “No. Maybe I’m good in theory and not in practice.” 

For the rest of the class Oz continued to point his red wand at the match, but nothing happened. It wasn’t till the end of class that anything happened at all. “Alice!” 

Alice, who was either doodling or taking notes, looked at Oz’s match. It wasn’t a needle, but the colour had changed to grey, even if it was still wood. “Professor Kate, I think Oz did something!” Leo flagged the teacher down. 

Professor Kate shuffled over to Oz quickly and picked up his match. “My dear boy, you did it! You didn’t make a needle, but you managed to change the colour, that’s more than enough for your first day. You’re going to be an amazing wizard, Oz!”

Oz was flying at the praise and a grin crept its way onto Oz’s face. “Maybe I’m okay in practice and in theory.”

The next class Oz had was The History of Magic with the Ravenclaws, taught by Professor Isla Yura. As Oz stepped into the room the first thing Oz’s noticed was that the teacher was staring directly at him. 

Ignoring the teacher, Oz went to go sit, but as Oz was walking to his seat, the teacher’s eyes never left him. When Oz glanced at the teacher, Oz now saw that the man was grinning and it was starting to make Oz uncomfortable. 

The teacher’s gaze was off putting. He had budging wide eyes that seemed to sparkle with maniacal fascination. Not to mention, the ear-splitting grin that was plastered on his face. Oz’s cheeks hurt thinking about it. 

“Excuse me,” a polite voice spoke. Oz turned beside him to the source of the voice, a boy with short sandy hair and glasses. The boy looked up, from the book he was reading, to Oz and continued, “Did you do something to bother the Professor?”

Oz shook his head and angled his head away from the teacher’s desk. “Professor Yura has been staring at me since I entered. It’s gross.” A shiver went down Oz’s spine when he turned to check if Isla Yura was still watching, only to be met with an even wider grin that crinkled Isla Yura’s eyes into squashed beans. “So gross!” 

The boy pushed up his glasses and sighed sympathetically. “I really can’t handle this teacher. I’m sorry you’re his object of fixation.”

“You know him?”

Looking pained, responded, “He’s the Head of Ravenclaw.”

Oz tamed his cringe. “Looks like both Slytherin and Ravenclaw have damn creepy Heads.”

Apparently, Oz didn’t do the best job of hiding his cringe because the boy chuckled and then held out his hand. “I’m Reim Lunettes. You’re Oz Vessalius, right? Everyone is talking about you.”

This was Reim Lunettes? What are the odds? “They’re talking about me because I’m a Vessalius in Slytherin. I still have to write my father a letter about this.”

“Well, that’s only one reason why everyone is talking about you.” Reim went on, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. 

Oz raised a brow. 

“To start,” Reim explained, “you look identical to your ancestor, Jack Vessalius. I saw a picture of him in ‘Hogwarts, A history.’” Reim held up the book he was reading. “The second reason is that you were approached by a ghost.” 

“The Queen of Hearts?” Oz supplied. “She talks to everyone. Likes to… scan their heads or something. Has a screw loose-“

Reim shook his head. “No. The Queen of Hearts has scanned the heads of every first year by now.” Reim shivered at the memory. “You were approached by The Keeper.”

The Keeper? That must have been the ghost that told Oz’s how to get to his first class. “Another ghost did talk to me that might have been The Keeper. What house does The Keeper haunt and what’s so weird about it talking to me?”

“Well,” Reim trailed off, looking for a way to explain this. “The Keeper doesn’t belong to any house. In fact, The Keeper in a sense belongs to all the houses, from what I’ve been told. The Keeper’s job is to monitor the halls and make sure the students aren’t out at night, but The Keeper never approaches anyone willingly unless…” 

“Unless…” Oz prods. 

“All the people that have been approached willingly by The Keeper end up being significant to the wizarding world in some way. This includes both the destroyers and the makers. You look like the dead hero, Jack, and The Keeper spoke to you; heads are turning as you walk. The only other person in the school that The Keeper has spoken to willingly is Xerxes Break.” 

Oz tossed the information in his head. Professor Yura was still smiling at him. The hairs on Oz’s spine stood up with cat-like reflex. “Xerxes Break?”

“Xerxes Break is an upper year Ravenclaw. He’s a friend of mine from outside Hogwarts-.” 

Reim was unable to elaborate because Professor Yura clapped his hands. “Why, hello my beloved Slytherins and my own lovely Ravenclaws.” Isla Yura threw his hands up in grandeur. “I love history, don’t you? The amazing heroes and villains, so much knowledge! In our very room, we have someone descended from Jack Vessalius himself!” Professor Yura mystically manifested himself behind Oz and put his hands on Oz’s shoulders, gripping enough so that it would be awkward. Oz wanted to throw him off. “Today we’re going to read about Jack Vessalius and what he did for the wizarding world!”

The rest of class was boring, to say the least. Oz liked history as much as the guy beside him, okay well that’s debatable considering it’s Reim, but still the point stands that Oz was not able to enjoy this class because of the Professor. The Professor was passionate about history, it was clear, but every time he read a passage that Jack had said, Professor Yura giggled and turned to Oz like a school girl who saw their crush in the halls. 

It became very hard to focus. 

The final class that Oz had was Herbology with the Gryffindors. Professor Sheryl Rainsworth was kind to Oz and made him feel welcome in the classroom. Alice had tried to eat a few of the sample plants, but Sheryl had managed to catch her the first time and kept a closer eye on her since then. Other than that, the class was uneventful. 

After eating, Oz returned to the Slytherin Dungeons, somewhat forlorn that he didn’t have Charms class that day. Oz remembered that he needed to write his father a letter and spent the night working on it. Oz tried to word as politely as possible that he had been put into Slytherin and try to convey that he was doing fine in his classes. Deeming the letter fine, Oz decided to call it a night and deliver the letter in the morning to the owlrey. 

Whatever his father had to say about the situation, Oz would accept it. Life was easier that way, Oz had learned over the years. 

Even now, in Slytherin, Oz knew that after he adapted and accepted that he was a Vessalius in Slytherin, everything would be alright. For now, Oz had to observe and be on guard, but he did not require to feel tense or any other unnecessary emotions.

Oz changed into his pajamas and tucked himself into bed after feeding B-Rabbit. Elliot’s wand was producing a small dim light, making it hard for Oz to sleep. Oz was about to tell Elliot go to bed, when Oz saw why Elliot was awake. Elliot, under the dim light from his wand, was reading a book. A book Oz knew.

Sparkles flared into Oz’s eyes. “You like ‘The Holy Knight’?” Oz crawled onto Elliot’s bed. 

Startled, Elliot dropped the book and turned to Oz who had stars in his eyes. “It’s one of my favorite books so yeah I like it.”

“Go to sleep,” Skylar protested. “You two can fanboy about books tomorrow.”

Elliot looked slightly flustered and muttered something to himself as he closed the light coming from his wand. Oz was disappointed and climbed back into his own bed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter

The next day, breakfast was a bit chaotic. Elliot made it clear to Oz on the first day that if Oz tried to talk to Elliot while eating, Elliot would not hesitate to stab him with a fork. 

It wasn’t that Oz wasn’t fitting in with the Slytherins, it was that Oz Vessalius wasn’t fitting in with the Slytherins. 

Luckily, Oz was able to sit with the Hufflepuffs because they were accepting of him. Alice joined Oz at the Hufflepuff table because there was no way that a Gryffindor would be able to sit at a Slytherin table and there was also no way that a Slytherin would be able to sit at a Gryffindor table. It was a law, or so it seemed. 

The arrangement at the Hufflepuff table was working out fine, until Bernard Nightray tried to enforce that you could only sit with your own house. The potions professor had threatened to take away House points if any of the three were to talk back to him, but luckily the Hufflepuff ghost, Shelly Rainsworth told Bernard Nightray off.

“What is that guy’s problem?” Alice pointed at Professor Nightray. 

Gilbert gasped and put Alice’s accusing finger down. “Don’t do that! What if he sees you?” 

“I don’t care if he sees me, seaweed head!” Alice claimed boldly. 

“I am not a seaweed head, you rabbit! Uh, stupid rabbit!”

“Explain your product of the sea hair? Clearly, you are a seaweed.” 

Gilbert let out a whine that resembled that of a strangled cat. 

Just then, an owl floated over to Gilbert. It was a red envelope, eye-catching and alarming. Gilbert turned to a sickly colour as it fluttered around him.

“What’s wrong?” Alice asked in between stuffing her mouth the beacon. 

Oz smiled sympathetically. “It’s a howler.” 

Alice tilted her head in confusion. Oz answered by saying, “You’ll know soon enough. Open it fast, Gil.” 

With quivering fingers, Gilbert opens the envelope. 

“GILBERT NIGHTRAY!” The horrific shrieking began. “A DISGRACE! YOU ARE PROBABLY NOT EVEN A REAL PUREBLOOD! AWFUL! FAKE CHILD! FRIENDS WITH A VESSALIUS BRAT? YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED! ASHAMED!” 

The screaming died down and the students around broke into laughter. There was no return address mentioned but the letter could have been sent by any of the Nightrays. Except for Elliot, or Vincent, Oz rationed. 

“Wow,” Alice blinked. “That was sure something.”

“Now, now, that was sure an earful!” A singsong voice came from behind Oz. Behind Oz, a man, an upper year, with hair as white as snow and two piercing red eyes appeared. Behind him, Reim walked and waved to Oz. 

“Reim told me about you,” the white-haired Ravenclaw explained. “I’m Xerxes Break. You can address me by Break. Pleased to meet you, Oz Vessalius, Gilbert Nightray, and Alice.” Break sat himself on the Hufflepuff table and swung his legs like a child. 

Something about Break made Oz feel irritated. The childlike saunter, perhaps? “What do you want?” Oz asked sourly. 

“My, aren’t you an uncute child?” Break patted Oz’s head. B-Rabbit, who sat in Oz’s lap jumped up and scampered away at the sight of Break. The rabbit bolted, out of sight and Oz groaned. 

“Your rabbit seems to not like me,” Break put on a frown and swung his hands side to side. “It ran off!”

“B-Rabbit!” Oz called out, getting up to run after his rabbit. 

“Acceo B-Rabbit,” Sheryl Rainsworth chanted. The rabbit landed safely in her arms and she returned him to Oz. 

Oz went back to the table, trying to calm B-Rabbit. The rabbit stayed alert. Since coming to Hogwarts, B-rabbit had been restless and Oz was starting to worry about it. Clearing his voice, Oz regained his poise, “You were saying, Break?”

Break narrowed his eyes at B-Rabbit. “Yes, well… I heard The Keeper spoke to you, Oz.”

Oz nodded, shielding B-rabbit away from Break. 

“I see,” Break bent down so he was on eye level with Oz. Eyes as red as blood bore into Oz’s forest green eyes. “You aren’t here. It’s too weak.” Break said cryptically. Then, Break went over to Alice and regarded her closely as well. “You are here but you are not.” 

Gilbert was giving Break a stern look. Break pouted. “I am skilled at Legilimency and Occlumency, I think you are interesting, Oz and Alice.” Break began to observe Gilbert. “You’re the opposite of them. Interesting, but different. You are loud. Too much inside.” 

Break smiled, too widely for Oz’s liking. “Be careful you three! Bye-bye!” Break skipped away leaving Reim alone. Reim began to clean his glasses fervently. “Sorry about Xerxes. I’ll be going too, now. See you three later.”

Gilbert blinked a few times indecorously. “What was that about? The sorting had said something similar to be me, but, ugh,” Gilbert rested his face on the table, “I don’t get it!”

Oz laughed at Gilbert’s peril, but inside, Oz was unsettled by Break’s words and watchful eye. 

-

Next, Oz had Charms with the Hufflepuffs. This was the class that Oz was looking forward to the most, as his Uncle Oscar was the teacher. When Oz and Gilbert entered the classroom, Oscar smothered them in a hug. “Look at my two little wizards!”

The class stared at Professor Vessalius with blank eyes. Coughing professionally, Oscar told Oz, “Be seated. We will talk after class.” Oz resisted the urge to laugh at his uncle’s familiar antics. Gilbert and Oz sat in front of Elliot and Leo as the Charms professor began his lecture. 

“Hello first years, I am Professor Oscar Vessalius, the Charms teacher and the Head of Gryffindor. Charms are one of the most powerful tools at a wizard’s disposal. There are Charms that allow you to breath under water; Charms to erase memory, there are Charms for everything. Hexes and jinxes are also a type of dark charm. I hate to push textbook work onto you so early on, but it’s important to learn the basics in theory before practice with Charms. Please copy down what I have written on the board.” Professor Vessalius patted the chalkboard. 

“What a joke,” some Slytherin scoffed in the room. Oz locked eyes with the girl whose voice Oz was familiar with, Amaryllis Chase. She looked at Oz haughtily. 

Professor Vessalius sighed and pretended not to hear anything. 

Gilbert avoided eye contact with Professor Vessalius the entire class and Oz wasn’t entirely sure why. When class was dismissed the two stayed behind to talk to the professor. 

“Hello, boys” Oscar gave them a fatherly smile. “How are you enjoying school?”

Gilbert backed away from Oscar like a frightened animal. 

“Come on, Gilbert. Are you that scared of me?” 

Gilbert began to trip on his words. “I b-betrayed the Vessalius family s-so-“

Oscar put a hand on Gilbert’s shoulder. “You betrayed nobody. Besides this is Hogwarts, it’s a different place from the outside world.” 

Oz felt like those words held special meaning to him. “Uncle, you didn’t tell me you were a teacher here!” 

The elder Vessalius whistled innocently. 

“Figures,” Oz laughed to himself. “Are you okay with it?” 

Oscar’s brow knitted together. “Am I okay with what?” 

“Me being in Slytherin.” 

A full laugh resonated from Oscar. “I told you I would be fine with wherever you would be place. Here, want me to tell you a secret?” 

Oz and Gilbert nodded in unison. 

Oscar’s gaze drifted somewhere else. “I wasn’t supposed to be sorted into Gryffindor. The hat told me I was a Hufflepuff. I asked to be put in Gryffindor.” 

“You were supposed to be in Hufflepuff?” Gilbert confirmed with awe in his eyes. 

Oscar patted Gilbert’s head. “Yes. Not all Hufflepuffs are weak and lack the power to protect their friends and loved ones.” 

Gilbert, for the first time, felt a hint of pride at being a Hufflepuff. In his eyes, Oscar was anything but weak, useless, or soft. Instead, he was bold, warm, and strong. Twiddling his fingers, Gilbert’s amber eyes meekly met Oscar’s with a smile. “Thank you.” 

“Houses don’t make the man,” Oscar patted Gilbert on the back, “the man makes the house. You use what your house gives you and grow as you want.” 

This was the first time that Oz felt it was okay to talk about what happened at the sorting ceremony. It seemed as though nobody was talking about what the hat had spoken in their heads, so Oz had been avoiding mentioning it. “The sorting hat wasn’t sure if I was a Gryffindor or a Slytherin. In the end, it told me I would grow better in Slytherin because of something IN Slytherin right now, but what’s bothering me more is… it said something underneath me was Slytherin.” 

Scratching his beard, Oscar analyzed those words. “The hat was probably just talking about your personality.” 

“That’s what I thought too,” Oz muttered. The tone when the hat had said it was peculiar, so it stood out in Oz’s mind. 

“The hat said my head was loud but muffly.” Gilbert spoke embarrassedly. “Break called me loud, too. Am I that loud?” 

“You could serve to be louder, in fact,” Oz patted Gilbert’s head. 

Oscar laughed at this. “I’m glad you two boys are doing okay. Go to your next class. Oh, and on Saturday swing by my office with that female friend of yours for tea.” Oscar gave an embarrassing attempt at a sly smile.

Oz and Gilbert grinned fondly. 

“Hogwarts feels more like home now,” Oz addresses Gilbert on their way out. 

Gilbert nods. “Wherever Uncle Oscar goes, it begins to feel like home.” 

The two eventually parted ways, feeling clearer about their houses. 

The rest of the day was rather uneventful, in Oz’s opinion. It was only the second day of school, but Oz could feel that most of the teachers were keen on giving homework. Oz returned to the Slytherin dungeons feeling ready to sleep and asleep was he in a matter of minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....unedited


End file.
